Storm Blade Rebellion
by DanteAzel
Summary: What if Naruto found out about his parents far earlier? would he still wish to be Hokage of Konoha or would the village forever curse the day he was born. Perhaps with a little help from a legendary blade Naruto can rise above his past and bring his clan honour and power. The grammar is terrible for the first twenty chapters however my Beta is working on it so please be patient.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: After reading your reviews I decided to rewrite the entire story, no OCs strictly a Naruto fic hope you like it.**

Chapter 1

Bijuu otherwise known as tailed beasts are nine titanic beasts that possess not only a conscious mind similar to humans, but they have so much chakra that they are referred to as Chakura no Bakemono Chakra Monsters. These huge beasts possess red coloured chakra and the ability to scare the shit out anyone they meet with their killer intent (KI). With all these qualities it has made humans fear them for their strength, hate them for their appearance and seek after them because of their chakra and the bragging rights of beating a bijuu.

But what happens when a beast with a conscious mind and a nasty bite is threatened and backed against a wall? They attack viciously that's what; the problem with this response is that mankind is notorious for his stupidity when it comes to understanding when he can't get away with oppression. As such the stories of the demons that came from hell began. All because they stood up for themselves they were treated like outcasts; senseless demons that needed to be controlled and ruled by man. The bijuus naturally started to hate man.

The Kyuubi however was the last to really start to wish for man's demise he really did not care for mankind in any way he pretty much just enjoyed being left alone and of course watching them try to capture or beat him was amusing since all he had to do was growl and shoot them with a dose of his KI and they immediately left him alone and if he was lucky some of them will run away screaming like a little girl that was always funny

Well that was until Madara showed up and used him as weapon and the first Hokage shared him and his brothers and sisters like inanimate objects. And the straw that broke the camel's back was being sealed in a human and treated as a mass weapon of destruction by not one but two people. And after being used again by Madara whom he did not even know was still alive to fight a battle he didn't start or even care about and being sealed **again**, the legendary beast had decided that aside from his father, mankind will never win his trust ever again.

Well that was until…

_(Konoha) Five years after the Kyuubi's attack_

It was dark, that's the first thing Naruto noticed when he opened his eyes. _'Where am I?'_ thought the young blond, who was trying to remember how he got here. _'Huh my head'_ Noticing the surroundings around him there was a pool of water at his feet and the place was badly lit not to mention the pipes in the ceiling. It definitely looked similar, _'how did I end up in a sewer. Oh'_

_Flashback_

It was a chilly October afternoon and the whole village was in a festive mood because today was the day that they remembered all the brave people that had fought to defend them five years ago. It was a bittersweet celebration for those who had lost loved ones on this day because while it gave them a chance to honour their lost ones it was also a strong reminder of the fact that they were dead and they were never coming back and the reason for this was walking around the village

Naruto hated October 10 with a passion. He did not know when he started to realize how the villagers treated him maybe he always knew but as far back as he could remember the people always treated him like he was some kind of disease that they could not get rid of and boy have they tried to get rid of him.

It started in the orphanage the caregivers were always stricter with him unlike the other kids. I think the first time that he really noticed was when he realized that he did all the chores in the orphanage and yet was served last and his plate was far smaller than the other kids, at first he bought their explanation of how the village is under repairs and the orphanage did not have enough food to go around but that all changed the day he sneaked into the storeroom and saw just how much food they had in store

It was still manageable at least he was fed and he got to play with his toys and stuff and also the head caregiver liked him and used to read him bedtime stories she was also the one who taught him how to read and write even though he was a slow learner she was patient with him and he could also play with the other kids well some of them not all of them liked him but he did have some friends so despite the fact that he was not being fed properly he still liked it there

Well that was until he turned four and the head caregiver left to go to the Capital to attend to some business that the council had sent her to do and in that same year his friends got adopted by families and left as well but it was okay too because that was also the year that he met the Sandaime Hokage who took him to Ichirakus for his first ramen that was a glorious day for the young blonde

Naruto ate so much ramen that day that he thought his stomach would explode but another reason why he really liked the place was because of Teuchi and Ayame they were so nice to him; they reminded him of his caregiver who read him bedtime stories, and so despite the fact that his life in the orphanage was slowly taking a turn for the worst he had his Jiji and Ichirakus to look forward to not to mention the ramen so life was okay once more.

It took a bad turn earlier this year when he came back from spending a day at Ichirakus, Jiji had told Teuchi to allow him to eat as much as he wants and send the bill to him, so after spending some time in his favourite food spot he came to the orphanage only to see his stuff outside, confused he picked them up and entered the orphanage to ask what was going on only to have them kick him out literally telling him that he was no longer welcome there

A week later Jiji got him his apartment and he was once again happy I mean how many four year olds had an apartment all to themselves he had not met any but the happiness was short-lived because the place quickly became too lonely for him and that was when he fully understood that the villagers hated him they told their kids to never play with him and rewarded them for picking on him

Ichirakus became his permanent spot but this time it was not just for the food but also because of the company that he got and he also had his Jiji with him so despite the fact that he was miserable and hurt that nobody liked him he knew that there were three people that he could always count on no matter what. Now it was October 10. Even when he was in the orphanage October 10 was not a good day for him he thought that it was because it was his birthday and they did not want him to be happy at all on that day

Thankfully so far he had not been touched, the villagers had always ignored him completely like he did not matter so that was not new but as he was walking to Ichirakus for lunch he felt like a rabbit passing through lion territory he could practically feel them killing him slowly with their eyes as he walked so he jogged and almost ran to Ichirakus and the entire time that he was there with his surrogate family he could feel their KI at the back of his mind and he was honestly very scared

When he left around 9pm in the night he noticed that everyone was busy so he decided to think and try to imagine why he was treated the way that he was because nobody in the whole village as far he knew was treated like this. For so long he had wondered who is parents are, if they loved him, did they hate him just like the villagers did, or did they do something before they died that was so terrible that he was suffering for now? Jiji had told him the day before that his parents died in the Kyuubi's attack five years ago, but aside from that he didn't tell him anything else.

That was also partially why he came to the festivals as much as he could, to learn more about the Kyuubi attack, otherwise he would have rather just stayed at home but he wanted to see if Teuchi knew anything about his parents unfortunately he did not. His train of thought on this was simple since he was recognized so easily then maybe his parents were popular too. As he was deep in thought he did not notice where he was going and ended up knocking a cart over pissing the owner off

"You damn brat killing us was not enough huh?!"

The shouting attracted a crowd; a very drunk and vengeful crowd but that would have been okay if they just settled on glaring at him while he escaped but somehow his movement angered them and one of them lunged at him as if to grab him but he slipped under his arm and going in between his legs he ran away before they attacked him; he did not like the looks on their faces and boy was he right because the second he took off they chased after him screaming demon the whole way through; a name that he had been called a lot of times and so much more then fate being extra bitchy today allowed them to corner him in an alley and then despite his pleading they pounced on him.

_Flashback end_

"So they threw me into a sewer huh" the five year old had not really let his terrible life affect his mood because he didn't still believe that this was happening to him, he had always thought it would end soon, like a nightmare he would soon wake up from, probably when he found his parents, but it hasn't. So all the bottled up emotions inside of him busted forth when he realized that it wasn't a dream but his real life, and the little boy broke down and wept. It was in the middle of his breakdown that he heard something

'_Naruto'_

"Who is that?"

After hearing his name again he decided to venture into the sewer to find who was calling his name, so wiping his eyes he started to follow the sound of the voice calling his name '_that sounds so creepy ttebayo_'

_Meanwhile…_

The Uchiha clan is one of the four noble clans in Konohagakure no Sato and is reputed to be the most powerful clan in the village, producing Shinobi that are exceptionally talented and battle-oriented, especially those in possession of the Sharingan, the famed bloodline limit that allows it's user to read lips, predict the movement of their opponents, copy jutsu, and enhance genjutsu techniques. With all these strengths plus a drive to succeed no matter what, the Uchiha clan is rivalled by almost no-one in respect and honour except the Senju clan.

Well that was until the Kyuubi struck and the villagers remembered that Uchiha Madara had at one time controlled the beast and used him for his on gain, the clan was separated from society in every aspect, because even before the Kyuubi struck the clan wasn't exactly people-oriented.

The clan can be described as a clan of dicks, jerks and assholes. In fact the only clan that is worse than them emotionally is the Hyuuga clan who are just total pricks, although there is a debate as to whether they are closet perverts or not. But back to the Uchiha clan, since their ejection from society the clan has seen it fit to take every opportunity to prove that they are the best in the village.

And there was one person who felt just what the clan will do to prove their superiority; Uchiha Itachi the ten-year old prodigy with a mind that can rival most Jounin knew that the clan was so focused on proving that they are the best that they forget that they are part of the village and they can't just expect everyone one to bow to their every whim. And as far as he was concerned if he was the best the clan has to offer just because he believes in hard work and the Will of Fire, then was does that say about them.

Itachi sighed as he made his way to a part of the Naraka River where he trains in seclusion. Nobody in his clan knows where it is so it is always empty.

'_So who is crying then?'_

The first shocker was nobody in his clan believed in showing emotions; considering them to be a sign of weakness so there was no way it was a member of his clan, so the question is who is it? The answer was a girl Itachi's age with purple hair tied in a pineapple style.

Sensing someone behind her Anko turned around to yell at the stupid villager who was probably here to give her crap just because she was Orochimaru's apprentice.

"What do you want?!"

But it wasn't a villager; it was that prodigy everyone was talking about Itari or something.

She didn't like the way he was looking at her, like she was beneath him or something.

'_So what do you say to a girl whose being crying?'_

"What are staring at uh, you think just because you're a prodigy you're better than me? Huh? Is that it? Huh?"

'_Uh what, I thought she was crying so why is she angry all of a sudden?_'

"It's not my fault I had an asshole for a sensei! It's not my **fault!**"

That's where things got really confusing for Itachi. Why you ask? Simple, Anko started attacking him with everything she could reach; kunai, shuriken, senbon needle, fist, leg, stone, and hair pin? And that wasn't even the weirdest part, the weirdest was that she still had tears running down her face while looking like she wanted to rip him to shreds and he hadn't said two words to her, literally.

Two hours later…

Itachi had successfully dodged and evaded everything Anko had thrown, and he definitely didn't need to train again because if not for his Sharingan and very quick reflexes he would probably be in the ICU by now because damn that girl has got wicked aim.

Anko however couldn't believe it, nothing she threw worked, nothing! Was that why Orochimaru discarded her, because she was so worthless she couldn't even beat a boy her own age.

"Huh" Looking up Anko noticed the utterly confused expression on Itachi's face, and dare she say it, it was hilarious. I mean how many times do you see an Uchiha confused and so perplexed he can't even get the patented Uchiha cold gaze.

Itachi was officially wigged out. '_First she's crying then she gets angry and wants to kill me and when she couldn't she goes back to crying and now she's laughing? I wonder if this is why most books describe women as incredibly confusing people_'

"You're not very socially experienced, are you?"

"No?"

Both the answer and the face he was making was seriously funny _'like a confused weasel, hmm it seems I've found a new play toy'_ "I'm Anko"

"Itachi"

"Well I'll see you around Itachi"

With that she got up, winked at him and left. Five minutes later Itachi was still asking himself '_what the hell just happened_'

Meanwhile…

In Naruto's mindscape, our young blond was going into shock. He had followed the voice until he got to what looked like a bright ball of bluish energy which knocked him out when he touched it I mean wouldn't you have touched it. When he woke up he found two people next to him; Uzumaki Kushina, an ANBU captain and Minato Namikaze the Yondaime Hokage. But the real shocker was what they told him.

"You're my what?"

"Sochi, we're your parents"

"So I'm dead?"

"You haven't been listening to anything we've been saying have you?" asked Kushina.

Minato just smirked "Remind you of anyone?"

Kushina smiled sweetly to her husband "Would you mind repeating that, _dear?"_

Minato shook his head fearfully, "I thought so"

Naruto's head was still spinning, even when his mum, **his mum**, explained what really happened during the Kyuubi's attack. _'I mean zombie Uchihas, Jinchurikis, Death gods, a giant nine tailed beast in my gut, my parents being a dead ANBU captain and the Yondaime, toad seal keys?'_

Naturally, Naruto responded to all this information in a typical Naruto fashion, "oh yeah! I'm awesome baby!"

'_Yep just like his mother'_ thought Minato.

Kushina decided to calm her hyperactive son down so that they could spend some time together before chakra runs out. And that wasn't easy but she did, with the promise of hearing some awesome stories.

(3 hours later)

Naruto was having so much fun with his family. 'Family' now that wasn't a word he thought he would ever use in a positive light. In a span of a few minutes his birthday had gone from one of the worst days of his life to one of the most unbelievable.

First he got chased and beat up by villagers on his birthday then he somehow woke up in a sewer, which was creepy by the way, next he got knocked out by a bright ball of energy which as he heard from his parents was his central chakra core. This brings him to the real kicker of the day, his parents. For someone that has been despised for so long by people whom he had known all his life finding out that his parents loved him and cared about him was the second best part of today. The first was finding out that he is the son of the Yondaime Hokage and an ANBU captain, how badass is that? Although he was a little downcast about them being dead but I guess he couldn't have everything.

But all good things come at a price, because aside from his parents being dead he also has a bijuu stuck in his gut which puts him at the bottom of Konoha's social list, far below the dirt they walk on. Because unlike his mother and Mito-sama, the villagers are acutely aware of just what kind of damage the Kyuubi can inflict. This is especially after the citizens of the village witnessed the greatest death toll in history. But if there was one thing he had learnt, it was to never give up, no matter what. And now he had two goals to achieve: become Hokage, and destroy his mum's prank record _'oh yeah that's going be so much fun'._ The citizens of Konoha all shivered in their sleep.

However there was something he wanted to find out, '_but how do I convince them to let me do it._'

"You are not paying attention to us at all, are you Sochi?"

"Uh yeah Dad of course"

"Really, so what was the warning I gave to you just now"

'_Uh-oh'_

Minato just smiled _'he has the same attention span as his mother_'

Knowing what her husband was thinking, Kushina giggled remembering a time when she was just as bad when it came to paying attention to anything Kami she drove her Sensei up the wall with that attitude but it was fun though

"Your father was saying that you shouldn't tell anyone who your parents are yet, at least until you can protect yourself. Your father and I made a lot of enemies and if they find out that we had a defenceless son together they wouldn't hesitate to kill you or use you for their own gain"

"I hear you mum, but can I ask for something please" still not fully paying attention they decided to leave it for now

"Sure, go ahead Naru-chan"

"Can I see the Kyuubi?"

Now that wasn't what Minato was expecting at all "Sochi I don't think that's such a good…"

"Yes you can"

"What?" asked a very surprised Minato "you want to take our _five_ year old son to talk to the Kyuubi" '_Seriously I know she can be impulsive at times but what kind of reason would she have for doing that?' _

"Yes Minato, our chakra is fading and sooner or later he's going to see him at least this way we can be there for their first meeting"

"Please Tou-chan I just need to confirm something"

"Fine" Minato sighed '_Like I have a choice, I'm so going to regret this'_

"Alright Naru-chan let's go" And the next thing he knew he was back in the sewer and his mum was leading them deeper into it.

_Drip_

_Drip_

_Drip_

The Kyuubi no Yoko was slowly going insane, why you ask? Simple he had been hearing that same annoying dripping sound over and over again and for someone with his hearing ability; it was the worst kind of torture. Evidence of this fact was that the giant menacing fox was currently banging his head against the bars of his cage, to either get out of this seal to destroy that damn leaking pipe or knock himself out, whichever came first.

'**Kami-sama** **I preferred it in Kushina's cage, hell I'd take being controlled by Madara to this, at least then I can destroy something'** By now the bijuu had stopped banging his head against the cage and just sat on the floor with his eye twitching madly.

This was the scene that Naruto and his parents found the great beast in. "Um Kaa-chan is that normal?"

Kushina was just as confused as her son "No Sochi, at least as far as I know"

"Do you think we should maybe leave him alone and come back later maybe in a few _years_?" asked Minato, hoping that they could leave cause the Kyuubi seemed especially pissed today.

Unfortunately, the Kyuubi noticed he had visitors, _'_**_finally'_**** "You jailor" **

"Yes Kyuubi –san"

"**Fix that damn leaking pipe now before I go crazy and decide to use you as an ear bud" **

"Kaa-chan you said that this place is my mindscape right? Does that mean I can change it if I want?"

"Well I don't know Sochi"

"**Listen ningen I don't care what the place looks like, just fix the twice damned pipe!" **

Knowing that his tenant was getting agitated Naruto decided to change the mindscape, _'who knows he might become less hostile if he has a better living condition. So what kind of landscape should it be?' _After thinking about it he decided to use the field he used to hide in when the caregivers got too strict or harsh, and threw in some great features too. So focusing really hard on what he wanted Naruto started to slowly changing the mindscape.

The first thing that went was the water, then the pipes-**'Thank Kami-sama'-**and then the roof. And slowly grass started to grow, followed by trees, mountains in the distance, a large ocean and a faint blue sky. And to top it all up the cage holding the Kyuubi exploded instead the seal was now on a bracelet on the bijuu's right hand.

"Whoa Sochi, this is amazing"

"Yeah I love it but why did you replace the cage with a bracelet, it was there for a reason you know?"

"I know Dad but the Kyuubi is already stuck and he can't harm me thanks to the seal so I didn't see any point keeping him in a cage"

Naruto then turned to the Kyuubi, "So what do you think Kyuubi-san, did I do good?"

"**That depends on why you did all this ningen, and know that if you lie I'll know" **

"Oh that's easy, I figured since we are stuck together we might as well get along, it'll make this whole situation easier to deal with"

"**Hmm you're not lying, very well then kit I accept now leave I need to sleep" **

"You got it Kyuubi-san" Turning to his parents he said "See that wasn't so bad"

Minato shook his head and smiled "only you Sochi, only you"

Kushina simply laughed at least until her body started fading, "Sochi our chakra is almost up"

"What?"

"Your mother's right Naruto we have to go now"

"But…"

Kushina simply knelt down and hugged her son crying with him "No matter what happens know that your father and I love you and no matter how tough life gets never give up okay?"

"Listen to your mum son, no matter how the villagers treat you, you're a hero and our son and we're very proud of you"

Wiping the tears from his eyes Naruto said goodbye to his parents "I promise Tou-chan Kaa-chan I'll get them to see the real me and I promise I'll be Hokage someday just like you Tou-chan"

Kushina however being Kushina decided to give some last minute advice to a son "Make sure you find a nice girl with a lot of backbone Naru-chan I want grandkids"

"**Mum!**"

His parents laughter was the last thing he heard _'Jeez why would she say that I'm five for heaven's sake, now how do I get out of here. Maybe if I concentrate hard enough'_ and it worked.

After he left the Kyuubi who didn't fall asleep replayed everything that happened his only comment was **"Weird". **

_Konoha's hospital_

In the history of Konohagakure no Sato one person was recognized for his outstanding mental prowess and his strength of character and will. He is the student, predecessor and sensei of six S-rank ninjas, known and feared in the Elemental nations. He is known worldwide as the Professor, the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, Sarutobi Hiruzen. He is loved for his grandfatherly nature, respected for his wisdom and intelligence and feared for his resilience and jutsu prowess.

But at the moment, staring at the sleeping form of his surrogate grandson after he had been found in an alley earlier this morning, beaten and bloodied on what should be the happiest day of his young life. The legendary kage felt useless, drained and very, very old._ 'Minato I wonder what you think of the village you gave your life for, would you still love it? Would you still treat me with the same respect you always did when you find out that I couldn't take care of your son'._

People look at the position of Hokage and see a knight in shining armour alongside the humour of watching him struggle with the headache of paperwork. But that was simply a front. The life of a kage was filled with underground plots, black plots, assassinations, lies, deceit, cover-ups, and the worst thing about it was the need to keep all that and more from the public eye while promoting and maintaining the humane image of Konoha. Secrets, so many secrets, it truly was lonely at the top, and after everything he had been through, two wars; he was ready to give in and retire.

But after Minato died, he had to take over the position of Hokage again. And there couldn't have been a worse time for that to happen. He had to take care of the **whole **aftershock of the Kyuubi's attack; bury the bodies, including his wife, boost the villager's morale to rebuild their village, reorganize the Shinobi into workable units to prevent other villages, especially Iwa, from finding any reason to attack them, and finally making sure that certain people didn't take advantage of the emptiness in the chain of command in any sector of the village. And after five years of sleepless nights the village was still far from fixed, if anything it was simply bandaged badly, just waiting for the right moment to burst wide open.

'_I'm way too old for this shit, the problem is who in the world is going to take over, Kakashi is not interested, Tsunade hates the village, Jiraya is too valuable outside the village and Orochimaru is a missing nin. If only there was someone like Minato I could simply hand…it…over…to…them, if I play this right it'll be like killing two birds with one stones; save Konoha and keep my promise to Minato' _

While the old Hokage was plotting, Naruto was coming to.

'_Where am I?_' Opening his eyes, Naruto saw white. But when his eyes became focused he noticed the white walls, and environment it became obvious that he was in a hospital. He also noticed that all his wounds were healed _'whoa'_, sensing there was someone with him he turned to see his Jiji with him. "Hey Jiji, what's up"

Pulled out from his thoughts the Sandaime noticed that the young boy was awake and he also noticed something else _'his eyes look different, far more at peace with himself and determined. It seems I've missed a lot but if my plans work out I won't miss out on much of his life anymore'_

"Are you okay Jiji, you seem a little quiet"

"I'm okay Naruto, so how are you feeling now?"

"I feel okay Jiji, I have something to tell you though" After getting an affirmative answer, Naruto then proceeded to tell the Hokage everything that happened in his mindscape, knowing full well that he could trust his Jiji not to tell anyone.

"That was quite the tale Naruto" '_Quite the tale indeed_' "Hmm well since you're feeling better I'll leave you alone there are some things that I need to do '_like find someone who could raise and prepare you for your very hard future as the Kyuubi jinchuriki and Minato's son_' I'll be right back" _'I have a feeling this is going to be a long conversation'_. Naruto felt that that was a weird conversation _'Maybe all old people are like that.'_

Hokage Office

"You sent for me Sandaime-sama?" Looking up from his mountain of paperwork, Hiruzen noticed his young ANBU captain Hatake Kakashi. Now this conversation would've been something the old Hokage was looking forward to, if not for how Kakashi took the death of his Sensei and his team altogether.

This was about finding a suitable caretaker for Naruto, someone who could feed, protect, advice, and train the young Namikaze. However like all plans, this one has a massive flaw; Kakashi blames Naruto for every bad thing that has ever happened to him and hates that the bane of his existence resembles his Sensei and carries his surrogate mother's last name.

He doesn't know that Naruto is Minato and Kushina's son and the last known living legacy of both their clans, seeing as the Hokage didn't deem Kakashi mentally or emotionally fit to know that particular piece of information. That was the main reason he allowed him to join the ANBU in the first place, not because he was a prodigy but because the Sandaime hoped that a few years in the black ops would help him come out of his funk.

But while he is one the most promising Shinobi in the system, the young Hatake had become far more cold-hearted and logical than before Obito and Rin joined him and Minato on team seven.

The only good thing about the new Kakashi was that on all the missions he had been on, no matter how hard, he never left a man behind and at the same time completed the mission successfully. This was a problem in and of itself, because one of these days he will fail to either bring his whole team alive or complete the mission successfully and he may never recover from the emotional breakdown he will have.

'_I just wish this arrangement works out for Naruto and dear Kami I wish this will also do good to Kakashi especially if Naruto inherited his father's heart. Well there's no sense in waiting anymore and if he refuses I could always order him to do it'_

"Have a seat Kakashi, there's something I wish to talk to you about" Kakashi's mind was racing, trying to figure out what the Sandaime wanted to discuss and how he should respond to it. He after all didn't expect to be summoned to the Sandaime's office a day after the Kyuubi's festival. He always spent the week of the Kyuubi's attack doing two things; talking to his loved ones at the memorial stone and training to make sure he didn't lose anyone else.

'_I hope this isn't about my 'mental state' cause I'm not going for any stupid therapy and I sure as hell don't have any time to waste talking to anybody who doesn't know anything about what I'm going through'_ The Sandaime sensed where Kakashi's mind was going to, after all while he allowed him to join the black ops group he had had a lot of talks with him about seeing a therapist or at least talk to his friends, he couldn't count the number of times he had to tell Gai that Kakashi was busy on missions when the eccentric Jounin came looking for his rival.

"Relax Kakashi this has nothing to do with that"

"Then what is this about Hokage-sama" Taking a deep breath Sarutobi got ready to upset the young ANBU captain and if his information is correct a whole lot more people.

"Kakashi right now you are one the most suited for a particular long term S-rank mission that I need taken care of, it involves a high level of secrecy and caution. There is a very important asset that I need protected."

"May I ask of the details of this mission, Hokage-sama? And please tell me I won't have to be in physical contact with this child?"

'_And here comes the hard part'_

"Actually Kakashi you and your team will have to be within physical contact of, and yes you assumed correctly, the child."

"Hokage-sama…"

"While it sounds like a request it isn't Kakashi, this child must be taken care of, loved, protected, basically Kakashi I want you and your team to adopt him and treat him as your own"

Now Kakashi didn't like this whole arrangement one little bit, first of all he joined the ANBU to get away from attachments and second of all he didn't have a childhood, being the son of the White Fang and in war, so now he's being told that he had to take care of some important child. "Hokage-sama I don't think I'm the best man for the job, what am I supposed to do with a child?"

His argument pleased the old Hokage a lot _'you're already changing him and you're not even here yet, I've haven't seen Kakashi argue anything so emotionally in a long time usually he simply accepts it with a blank look. Perhaps this wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.'_ "Well I do believe that everybody asks that very same question when faced with predicaments like this, and I know from experience that the best way to raise a child is always learnt while trying to do just that"

"That's not logical at all, Hokage-sama"

"That's the beauty of taking care of a child Kakashi, there's nothing logical about it. It all balances on something that until just recently I had thought you lost; heart."

'_Great more talk about my emotions and mental state, this is getting ridiculous'_ "Fine so would I still be given other missions?" _'Kami knows if all I have to do from now is guard a child I'll either go mad or leave the village'_

"Of course I can't have my best ANBU squad getting soft, now can I?"

The Sandaime knew that this was only the tip of the iceberg, when Kakashi finds out exactly who he is going to be protecting all hell will break loose. Finding out that the person he despises the most is going to be his responsibility will not sit well at all with young man. But if there's one thing he had learnt from life, it was that things must first get worse before they can get better that is why gold in its raw state must pass through fire before it can come out beautiful and ready to be used. But then the argument will always be that gold needs to pass through a certain temperature any higher would ruin it, so if the goldsmith monitors the temperature, who is the one that monitors the challenges, people go through in life.

Uzumaki Mito once gave him the answer to that question: "Everything you go through in life has a reason behind it, a lesson to learn, an experience to pass on, something to add to wisdom, a test. But even though you feel like you haven't learnt anything, learn this, in all things be patient" this was what she told him when he was saddled with the responsibility of being Hokage right after his Sensei gave his life for him. And he had a feeling that after the hard times are past, Naruto will be the best thing for Kakashi and vice-versa.

"So when do I get to meet this mystery kid?"

"Soon I just need you to sign his adoption paper _'which will keep him from shrinking his duties'_ then I'll inform the council about the development and then when it is all settled I'll take you to him"

"He must be pretty important for you to inform the council about him"

"Yes he is, and Kakashi there is a reason this is such a high profile mission, once you sign the adoption paper you'll have 50% authority over the child while I'll retain the other 50%, but there are some people on the council who would do _anything_ to ensure that they have complete control over him. You must protect him at all costs, thankfully most of the damage from the Kyuubi's attack has been taken care of, and therefore I will have time to protect you from anyone who tries to harm you in any way."

"I understand Hokage-sama"

"Good here sign these"

When the documents were signed, the Sandaime instructed Kakashi to go and inform his team of the new mission and resume to his office first thing in the morning to find out exactly who they will be guarding, while he waited for the council to assemble _'Dear Kami-sama, grant me the strength not to kill all of them'_ Looking out of his window to the First Hokage's head, he thought _'Of all the ideas and decisions you made forming a village council was your worst one, Kami if Kushina was made Hokage instead of the calm, understanding Minato, she would've eliminated the entire village council her first month in office'_ The thought of how that meeting would have gone amused Sarutobi to no end.

"Hokage-sama the council decided to convene tomorrow"

"I see very well then thank you"

The next day

_(Konoha Hospital)_

"You have a broken rib, dislocated wrist and a mild concussion" said the doctor with a very cold of voice almost as if wishing the list was longer.

"Could you show just a tiny bit of concern for my friend who got attacked?"

"Your _friend _is fine and quite frankly she should leave she's taking up bed space for other more important cases"

"Like whom you stupid son of…"

"Let it go Nai-chan, thanks doc"

"Whatever just hurry up and leave before I call security _Mitirashi_" said the doctor with disdain before leaving.

Kurenai wasn't pleased one little bit; her friend had been attacked by a Chunin who was trying to avenge his sibling who had died as a result of the curse seal of heaven, thinking that Anko was somehow responsible for it. Thankfully she got there before any serious damage was inflicted on her.

"You should have let me show that asshole exactly who he's messing with"

"To what end? He'd simply inform his friends that the snake whore has corrupted one of the citizens of the village into being her loyal subject"

"Anko …"

"The best thing to do is just ignore them, sides with everything that has gone wrong in my life maybe I deserve it" That comment earned her a slap from a furious Kurenai.

"How dare you, the mark on your neck alone proves just how strong you are, out of ten people you survived, and not only that you train, eat and operate like a normal person despite having an unstable chakra pocket in your neck. How many people can do that, huh? I will not let you give up on yourself just because of the opinion of people who can't handle you."

Anko was pretty much in shock, she had never seen her friend like this. But come to think of it what the hell is wrong with her anyway, since when did she start allowing the opinion of anyone define who she is. I mean yeah the person she loved and looked up to the most wounded her, erased her memory, reduced her age to that of a ten year old and abandoned her but she could sit here and feel sorry for herself or she could show the bastard exactly what happens when you mess with fire.

"Thanks Nai-chan, I needed that"

"No problem, what are friends for? Now would you tell me about what happened the other day or do I have to force it out of you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Nai-chan." Said Anko innocently

"Oh don't play dumb with me Ko-chan; you know exactly what I'm talking but if you need me to refresh your memory fine. Yesterday you were distraught because of the way the villagers had treated you, I remember you running off into the woods sad and depressed then the next time I saw you, not only were you not sad anymore you were smiling, quite happily in fact and anytime I ask what happened you get the knowing smirk on your face, like right now for instance"

And wasn't that the truth, cause Anko was indeed smirking as she remembered her personal play toy.

"You met someone, didn't you?"

"_Maybe"_ Anko sang with a fox-like grin on her face.

"Well spit it out you little witch the suspense is killing me, who did you meet?"

"Trust me Nai-chan if I tell who I met and what happened suspense won't be the thing killing you it'll be laughter"

"Tell me" And with a wide grin Anko told her best-friend everything that happened that day.

Kurenai couldn't breathe, after hearing all her bff had to say she remained silent for about two seconds before she fell on the ground laughing her ass off. "I-can't-can't believe this, hahahahahahahaha dear Kami my ribs"

Anko also joined her friend but she could only giggle cracked rib and all. "Man I can't imagine the look on those stuck-up fools if they ever hear about this"

Anko then started imagining a red-faced Uchiha clan elder trying to explain in the trademark Uchiha tone of superiority why their most promising clan member, their heir couldn't handle a ten-year old girl. It was hilarious.

After a few minutes had passed Kurenai managed to compose herself and ask something that she sensed during the conversion "You like him, don't you?"

"Say what?!Hell no way!"

"Oh so you wouldn't mind sharing your play toy then?"

"Well no"

"Oh and why is that?"

"Cause he's my play toy and I want to have the pleasure of driving him crazy"

"You say that with such a gleeful look on your face that I don't know whether to pity him or grab a popcorn every time you're with your toy" Anko simply smiles sweetly while elsewhere Itachi feels a shiver run down his spine.

"As a matter of fact the moment I feel better I'm going to track him down I have a feeling that my aim will become a lot better by attempting to cut him into a million tiny pieces" said Anko with a sadistic grin on her face.

Kurenai simply prayed that the kid is as tough as people say he is, because while Anko is not Orochimaru she was his favourite student and Kami help the poor soul that catches her interest.

'_Wait for me my precious toy I'm coming for you soon' _

'_I guess it true then, you can't live with the devil willingly without becoming a demon yourself'_ thought Kurenai hoping and praying that Anko doesn't take this too far, cause while it's okay to be obsessed over a thing every now and then, possessive actually, it shouldn't go over the bar, because then it can become dangerous.

_Meanwhile_

_(Konoha's council room)_

'_Whoever said that counting to ten helps calm the temper must have either been drunk or stupid, cause it definitely isn't working for me?'_ thought the Sandaime, this was the flow of things since he said that Naruto was going to be adopted by Hatake Kakashi.

"This is an outrage, why would you give our most powerful asset to child"

"With all due respect Hokage-sama I wanted to adopt the child and now you hand him to an unstable ANBU"

"Hokage-sama how dare you hand that demon to an ANBU captain, what if it gets stronger and kills us all"

"Hokage-sama I Fugaku Uchiha insist that the thing be returned to its rightful place; on the street"

"Hokage-sama if I may be so bold as to ask if you're going senile, the weapon belongs with me, for the benefit of Konoha that weapon must be used properly you old fool" Three guesses who.

It was driving the old Hokage crazy, right now he was already coming up with a cover story to explain the death of the whole council _'Hmmm if I call Emma, nah too obvious some of them might escape, and using weapons won't be effective enough. I could probably use a Katon jutsu, yes if I make a big enough one then quickly use my speed and kunai I'm sure I can kill all of them, then I'll just blame it on a seal tag that was placed here by an unknown assailant no one would question it since Fuinjutsu is largely unknown' _

He was half-way through the hand signs when he noticed the whole room was not only quiet but everyone was staring at him like he had grown a second head. It appears that while he was deep in thought he was leaking KI and it was freaking everybody out. Also apparently his hand seal movements coupled with a murderous look on his face was scaring the shit out everyone but weirdly it was pleasing Danzo?

'_I better get this whole situation under control before they regain their mind and start blabbing again; it's a shame though all my problems would have been over by now oh well'_

"I'm only going to say this once so listen clearly. This council was created to advise the Hokage so it is my choice to take your advice or to reject it and right now I'm rejecting it. Naruto is under my protection and I choose Kakashi to watch over the _boy_ because I felt he is the best person for the job maybe if you grow some sense I might tell you why. Danzo that boy is not a weapon and he is officially and unofficially under my protection touch one hair on his head and you'll answer to me. As for you Fugaku keep your hands off the child. Everyone understands me?" considering he spoke with a murderous look on his face no-one could object not out loud anyway.

"Good, meeting dismissed"

'_Every great pack needs an omega there's no way that thing will know peace when it is the reason my clan is suffering'_ thought Fugaku

_Later that day_

'_How did this happen?'_ Kakashi was stuck between screaming in indignation, asking someone pinch him or just go back to sleep and hope this nightmare is just a figment of his imagination. The ANBU Captain for all his intellect could not fathom how the hell he got himself into this mess.

The day had started off normally; he woke up at 5am from yet another nightmare, he went to the bathroom brushed his teeth took his bath and got dressed, and then he put his team together like the Hokage requested and informed them of the way things are going to be run from now on. Then of course it was off to the Hokage's office to find out the name of the kid that they will be in-charge of.

In his mind Kakashi was picturing a clan heir of one the numerous clans in the Elemental Countries had been found and was now being raised by Konoha, _'he'll probably have his plate full with teachers, meetings, and so on'_ if this is the case then all the team will have to do is rotate guard posts around the boys' house, giving those not on duty time to themselves. He couldn't have been more wrong.

"Good morning Hokage-sama"

"Ah good morning team, I trust you're all prepared for your assignment?"

"Hai"

"Very well then, yesterday I gave Kakashi a brief run-down of the mission details but today I feel it's best to tell you exactly what this mission will entail so that nobody will have any wrong assumptions about what's in stock here" the Sandaime asked them to sit since this might take awhile

"As I was saying the child you'll be taking care of like I'm sure you already know is a very important asset to the village but not a particularly liked one, as a matter of fact most of your duties will involve protecting him from the villagers themselves. He'll be moved into a house later today where you all will be staying with him, now aside from being completely responsible for his day-to-day living and training as he doesn't have anyone else you'll also deal with him at ease meaning no ANBU masks, no codenames nothing, and I'll be checking in occasionally to make sure you're leaving up to the expectations placed on you"

'_And as if taking care of a kid possibly 24/7 and being judged and punished if you do it wrong wasn't bad enough'_

"The name of the child you'll be taking care of is Uzumaki Naruto"

'_This day couldn't possibly get any worse'_

Unfortunately life loves Murphy's law, "oh and if 'something' happens to the boy-staring at Kakashi-it's coming out of all your pays and you will be demoted depending on what that thing is"

'_Fuck me, there is no way I'm taking care of the beast that took everything from me, I may not be able to touch him but I can sure as hell ignore his existence and I know a clan that'll be willing to punish him. Yes Hokage-sama you may have me blocked but I will have my revenge, I swear.' _

_Meanwhile_

"**_Kami-sama how does this monkey get himself into messes like this"_**thought the Kyuubi

This particular mess started ironically like all mess starts with choosing to do something that should be relatively simple.

"I'm hungry" that was the statement made by Naruto after being stuck in a hospital for two days and eating what he suspected to be poison seeing as it always gave him a tummy ache, he decided to go out and eat after all his Jiji still hasn't returned and besides what's the worst that can happen? Famous last words yeah.

_Flashback _

'_Okay all I have to do is get out of here then go to Ichirakus' for some hot steaming ramen, ttebayo'_ Practically drooling he made his way to the door when a stray breeze reminded him of the fact that he only had the gown the hospital put him in as a covering for his birthday suit. '_Oh man there's no way I'm going out like this. There has got to be a shirt or something in here'_ unfortunately for the hungry blond there wasn't a clothing in site not even underwear.

'_Great now what do I do? Unless…' _Naruto then remembered that all the people and staff in the hospital seemed to have the same clothing which also implies that they must come from somewhere, and that was probably also the place where they kept their patient's clothes before dressing them in these robes. So all he had to do was find that place and pick something his size, now while he couldn't go outside the hospital dressed like this it won't make any difference in here, sides how hard can that be?

Very, very hard, Naruto was hopelessly lost. While he had been in the hospital a couple of times before he always left with his Jiji and unfortunately for him he never really paid attention to the different halls and stairs in the hospital. As a matter of fact he used to think that they all looked alike so there was no point paying attention to 'some boring white walls' big mistake.

'_Now what, how am I supposed to find that clothing area in here? It's not like I can just ask around with the way people treat me they'd probably think I want to infect their clothes or something. I have to find that place on my own.'_ Due to the state of Naruto's mind he wasn't paying attention to where he was going and so bumped into someone he really shouldn't have; the doctor in-charge of taking care of him.

"What are you doing out you little demon, trying to attack the poor babies in the infirmary?" Did I forget to mention that he also hated Naruto, well he does.

"Uh sorry gotta run"

"Hey get back here, stop that demon he plans on killing the babies!"

'_Oh man'_ Naruto noticed a small opening inside one of the walls, not entirely sure what it was he reasoned that it would be a safe place to hide from the growing mob coming for him _'I thought hospitals were supposed to make you feel better and not inflict pain or stress on their patients'_ quickly he jumped into the shaft-like door and immediately noticed that it had some sort of slide that went far down.

"Where did he go?"

"Check the laundry chute!"

'_What's a laundry chute?'_ Fortunately Naruto heard the footsteps approaching his hiding spot and decided that whatever's down there can't be worse than what's up here and so he jumped down the chute.

"There's nobody there, spread out and find him before he carries out whatever demonic plans he has"

"Whhhoooooaaaaaa man that was fun, thank God there was a pile of clothes here to break my fall, wait clothes? Yes! I found the clothing area. Knew I could do it now I just need to find something my size that shouldn't be too hard"

A few minutes later

"I hate this" Naruto had searched the entire room and the only thing he could find that wasn't a hospital gown, bed sheets, curtains, dirty clothes or oversized wears was a girls dress; a pink top and a white skirt.

"This day can't get any worse" on a normal day Naruto wouldn't wear this but he was starving and there was no way he could find his way back to his room and expect to be fed, not after being accused of trying to kill babies, and so the young jinchuriki put on the clothes _'Well at least the worst is over now, Ichiraku here I come. But first I need to get out here.'_

And boy that was easier said than done. Firstly he had to find a pair of shoes cause there is no way he was going out barefooted, when that was done he found a door and decided to get this embarrassment over with. Unluckily for Naruto fate wasn't quite done being a bitch to him yet, because once he got topside the mob was standing right in front of him.

'_Oh man'_ he thought he could pass by them after all the last time they had seen him he was in a hospital gown not in female clothes.

"Where did that little demon go?"

"_Just a few feet more then I'm free, please, please let me be free'_

"Hey that girl her hair, it looks weird. Sweetie, hold up why is your hair like that?"

In panic Naruto turned around causing the female nurse to gasp at the obvious whisker-like marks on his cheeks.

"It's the demon"

"Of course acting like the fox you are well you won't get away this time demon, get him"

'_Today was supposed to be simple!'_ Naruto took off using his size to get him through the obstacles the adults would have to slow down to avoid until he caught a lucky break _'Thank Kami-sama the exit'_ he ran like a man possessed towards the door and he didn't stop running until he was well past it into the busy crowd. '_Lost them_'

Breathing heavily the young blond rested against an alley wall, when he felt better he decided to make sure what happened before didn't happen again. _'I may not have enough control or practice for a full body henge but I can manage a facial one that way nobody will know it's me'_

"Henge no jutsu" thankfully it worked well enough _'Now to get to Ichiraku for a bowl of steaming ramen finally'_

Naruto hurriedly made his way to his favourite restaurant passing through the alleys and parks in other to avoid drawing attention to himself. Unfortunately for him, fate and a sadistic author was not on his side today.

"Katara there you are we heard you were in the hospital what happened?" said a blond girl about Naruto's age wearing a purple dress, she was with two other girls one dark haired girl and another blond like her and from the looks of it they knew who he was, _'great just what I don't need right now'_

"Uh earth to Katara did you hear what I just said"

"Uh yeah uh I got released from the hospital"

"Are you sure you're okay Kat you're acting weird"

'_Oh man how do I get myself into these messes?'_ Convinced there was something wrong with their friend the group of girls decided to drag him to their spot in the playground and proceed to ask a whole bunch of questions that he didn't even know how to answer and it caused them to be even more suspicious. On a normal day being in the middle of a group of kids his age would have been the best thing that has ever happened to him but today he was hungry, tired and stressed out and frankly this interview was starting to annoy him.

"You're not even paying attention to us Kat did something happen, cause you are really starting to worry us"

'_I'm not Katara!'_ this was where things got seriously awkward.

"Uh guys who's this and why does she look like me and is she wearing my clothes?"

"Kat, but if you're Kat then who is…where did she go?" Fortunately Naruto had enough sense to bail immediately.

"Thank God that's over with, boy I can't wait Ichirakus is right around the corner."

_Flashback end_

Turning the corner Naruto bumped into a Chunin and it wasn't just any Chunin it was one of those people that had sent him to the hospital just two days ago and to top it off the bump caused Naruto to lose his focus and drop the henge. '_Kami-sama all I ever wanted was a bowl of ramen that was all I asked for one bowl of ramen' _this was the thought going through the young blondes' head as he ran away from yet another mob, meanwhile the Kyuubi simply shook its head at the kind of luck this monkey possessed.

The Sandaime couldn't introduce the team to Naruto as he couldn't find him so he sent the team home unfortunately giving Kakashi the time and space he needed to plot his revenge.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

_Later that day_

Grrrrrr

"I know tummy I know" Naruto sighed heavily. Today has been one of the most frustrating days of his life, ever since he woke up he had had one thought; ramen and yet bringing that dream into reality had been an impossible job. _'I can't play with my age because their parents hate me, I can't have a family because of some wacko who couldn't take a hint, I can't have any nice stuff or go to nice places because I apparently don't deserve it and now I can't have my favourite food! Worse I'm dressing in girls clothes! God this is the worst day ever'_

The hungry blond was currently walking in the outskirts of the village after he finished running away from the mob that was chasing after him. Right now Naruto was considering stealing again just so he could eat, he didn't like taking what wasn't his own but he was hungry and he wasn't strong enough to tough it out because he had no idea when he would eat next and death by hunger didn't sound inviting at all. The question was what restaurant would he steal from, most of the ones he liked had upped their security for their foods, Naruto laughed at his current reputation in the village _'a demon fox with the ability to destroy the village yet can't seem to feed or clothe himself, ridiculous.' _

He kept walking and considering exactly what place he would steal from later today when he remembered the promise he made to his parents about making sure to show the village the real him and one day become Hokage, before meeting them stealing for food would have been okay, but if he really wanted to change and show this change he needed to actually change which meant no stealing, no matter what.

'_Kami-sama I don't know what to do now I know the path I've chosen is going to be incredibly difficult and I'm going to do a lot of bad things but please for the sake of my parents who have given up so much for me, keep my integrity intact, starting with giving me something to eat now, I promise I won't be picky.'_

About half an hour later he started to hear laughter, walking carefully in that direction he noticed a girl and a boy, probably her brother or something if their looks were anything to go by, they looked about three or so years older than him. They seemed to be having a lot of fun playing together; Naruto felt an old question in his heart raise its ugly head: Why do they get to be so happy and he couldn't. _'I can't think like that now, nothing good ever comes from it. I can be better I know I can'_.

"Is there a reason you're watching my grandkids little one?"

"Holy ramen don't do that, ttebayo!" Naruto thought he had died for a second there, looking up to see who had scared his heart out of him, he noticed an old lady with grey hair tied in a single ponytail with two bands framing her face, she was wearing a blue kimono with black sandals. She actually looked pretty beautiful unfortunately for Naruto he was too busy focusing on observing the person who scared him that he forgot two things; one was he screamed loud enough to draw the kids attention to him, and two he was still wearing female clothes and the old lady who would have saved him the embarrassment was too busy trying to see why he looked so familiar

_'Of course the village jinchuriki I wonder why he's putting on female clothes though'_

"Grandma who's this girl that you're talking to, was she the one who screamed?"

'_Oh man can this day get any worse?'_

"Oh Suki dear he's not a girl, he's a boy who apparently doesn't have any clothes of his own"

"Wait a second what kind of boy wears girl clothes?"

"Hush Sokka, look you're scaring him off"

"Naruto-kun why don't you come with us I'm sure there are some of Sokkas' clothes you can wear come on" The fact that she knew his name means that she knew exactly who he was and yet instead of turning him away or giving him the evil eye, she actually wants him to come into her home _'I guess dreams do come through'_

Like all grandmothers Kari didn't do things half-way, she took Naruto to the guest room in the house had him take a shower brought clothes for him to wear; a blue shirt with an orange sleeveless hood a white shorts and black sandals.

"Wow you look absolutely precious" since it was just them in the room alone Naruto felt he needed to talk to her.

"Why are you doing this, you know who I am why are you being nice to me?"

"I see you know what really happened all those years ago, well I am not going to judge you the way the village does. I think you've suffered enough and I think it's time you had someone in your corner supporting you, you can stay here all you want" Naruto's tummy thought now was a safe enough time to reveal its needs.

"Looks like you're starving come on let's get you something to eat" After making sure Naruto had eaten and the kids were properly introduced Kari left them to their devices and decided to visit a certain old friend and get some things straightened out.

"Hokage-sama Ms Kari is here to see you, should I let her in"

"Yes of course" _'Now that's a name that brings back memories'_

"So how's the life of Hokage going these days?"

"Well it hasn't been easy that much I can tell you, sometimes I almost want to grab the next person I see and hand the hat over to them."

"Well you are too old for this job anyway, old friend"

"Okay what's wrong your tone indicates trouble?"

"You would never believe who I ran into today, starving in both body and mind"

"Let me guess you're talking about Naruto"

"Would you care to explain why such a high profile asset is being led down the road that had turned lesser men into monsters? And what exactly are you doing about it?"

"I think we're going to need some tea this is going to be a long one"

"So let me get this straight, after all this boy has been through; nearly killed and meeting his parents, trusting you to look out for him, your bright idea is to hand him over to a walking time bomb who would gladly kill him under the hope that Naruto can change him. Sarutobi I'm going to kill you! How many times have I told you that Kakashi would only change when he wants to and not before, moreover it is the height of stupidity to think that putting two damaged people together one with intent to kill will end like a fairy-tale, are you kidding me?!"

"I know but with the situation in the village right now this was the best I could do, you know exactly what the council is like right now" Kari didn't like it but he was right, given the circumstances right now the arrangement was a long shot but the only shot the kid had at being safe but it wasn't good enough.

"You're right you're the Hokage so there's a level of partiality that you can show before vultures like Danzo start to publicly question your ability to rule. But while there's no way we can adopt him nothing says we can't keep him safe and protected if he happens to find his way to us. And as for Kakashi training him no problem but he'll have to do it at my estate, think you can swing that to the council?"

"Yes I can, thank you Kari you've always been a lifesaver"

"Well if I don't take care of you Hiruzen who will?" This made the friends smile,

"Have lunch with me Kari, I've missed this talks"

"Well my schedule's a little tight but okay fine I'm sure I have a few minutes" she said slyly.

It took about three days before everything was settled with the council and let's just say Kakashi wasn't happy for the intrusion in his plans and he wasn't the only one who didn't like it.

"The demon brat has gotten Kari Sozen to protect him now, what are we going to do Fugaku-sama"

"We wait, sooner rather than later the brat will move away from the people around him. When that happens our man on the inside will bring him to us and then we will make him pay after which we'll finally return to our position of power in the village"

"Are you sure that you can trust Kakashi to deliver?"

"If he fails we will simply add him to our list of targets that must be eliminated on our rise to total power in the village"

"Danzo it seems Sarutobi is far more cunning than we give him credit for, aligning himself with Kari is truly a brilliant plan"

"No matter what that old fool does, the Kyuubi jinchuriki will be mine to control, all we need is someone to break up the connection the weapon has to the Sozen clan and make sure that he breaks down then he will bring him to me and I will train and condition him to be the perfect weapon."

_Meanwhile_

Anko was bored and anybody who knew her knew that a bored Anko is equal to disaster, simply because she'll find a way to entertain herself and you do not want to be there when she does. "Gah this is hopeless. I can't believe I'm reduced to counting ceilings all day, why the hell did Kurenai have to go on a mission and leave me with nothing to do. Now am I supposed to entertain myself? It's not like I have a play toy or something, I mean if I was allowed to work for the I.T. department then the screams would at least keep me entertained. And hopefully I get to torture some, Kukukuku."

She then of course laid in bed smiling at all the people she would get to break and best of all nobody would accuse her of anything, heck they'd even pay her to entertain herself. _'God I wish I had someone to torment right now, wait a minute'_ Jerking off the bed she suddenly remembered that she did have a new play toy _'Kukukuku time for some fun'_

Itachi on the other hand was not happy; in fact he was actually pissed off which was rare for him since he is practically known for his composed personality but not today, this was emphasized by the fact that he was currently attacking a tree in his secret training area using taijutsu. The reason for his bad mood can be traced back to what happened earlier today.

_Flashback_

"You sent for me Father?"

"Yes I did, sit down there is something that I require of you" Itachi did not like where this was heading, especially since he knew that his father had been in meetings with the elders of the clan and they had been pushing him to train harder than usual.

"You made the clan proud by making Chunin and now the village is looking at you but making Chunin is poor for us. I want you to make ANBU by any means necessary and this is not an option do you understand me?"

"May I ask why, Father?"

"I will let you know what I want you to know. But with that said the clan has been ignored for far too long and this village needs to be reminded just how powerful we are, your duty is simply to get into the Hokage's inner circle and make sure to report anything of interest to me. And then when the time is right you will help us remove that old fool from the picture so that our clan will take over this pathetic village and rule it our way." Fugaku smiled sickly "We will also turn that demon into a memory and finally Sasuke will come in handing"

Itachi had a serious feeling that he won't like this, Sasuke is his pride and joy and he loved him and already he felt angry that after so long his father is finally realizing he has a second son. The man barely gave the boy any attention when all Sasuke wants is for his father to acknowledge that he exists. It was with that protective heart that he asked a question that he wished he never had.

"Father if the demon is as dangerous as we suspect then won't that put Sasuke in danger?"

"Itachi that _brother_ of yours is pathetic and a disgrace to our clan, and if he can't protect himself then that is not my problem. What I need that _boy_ to do is give us a way to know where the demon would be at all times, he tends to play too much when he should be training so since he loves to play he can be the demon's plaything. And when the time is right I will give him a chance to prove himself by having him kill the demon but if he doesn't then he will simply be one of the bodies that will be buried when we take over the village."

Itachi could barely breathe, it wasn't what he said that made his blood boil it was the manner in which he said it. Like his baby brother was of less value than a chess piece and he could be tossed aside like trash, so before he ended his father's life he decided to get out of there and go meet his mother, there is no way she would ever tolerate this.

"Excuse me Father I have to go train"

"As expected, you may go" he nearly ran out of there. He made it thankfully to the kitchen before he started to leak killer intent, _'Mother will know what to do, and she has to'_ he met her in the kitchen drinking tea and to be honest he was just thinking of how to break the news to her since she obviously doesn't know what her husband was planning, that was when it happened.

"I know what your Father was talking to you about Itachi and I certainly hope that you're on board with my plan"

"Wait what did you just say your plan?"

"Yes, strong your father may be he definitely does not have the cunning to take over a village"

"So everything was your idea? Including how to take care of the demon?"

"But of course since Sasuke continues to prove too stupid to live up to his clan name, he might as well prove his worth doing something for us. This way we can put that childish heart to good use"

At this point Itachi's mind was blank "Excuse me" on his way leaving he ran into his little brother

"Aniki you promised you would come watch me train with my new bow and arrow" He looked so precious, so innocent, with such a big heart, Itachi decided he couldn't look at his brother right now not with the anger burning inside of him.

Sasuke deserved better than spending the afternoon with an angry brother. "Maybe next time, otouto"

_Flashback end_

The tree was not sufficient anymore, not just because he had destroyed it but because it was not moving. Right now he needed a sparring partner and he didn't know how to get one _'another reason why I hate the fact that I don't have any people who understand me and want to train with me'_

"Damn Tachi-chan what did that tree do to you?"

'_That voice…'_ Turning around Itachi noticed the girl who he met here crying a week ago _'what is she doing here?'_

Anko however noticed the look in his eyes_ 'Damn he's pissed'_ she felt annoyed that she wasn't the one who got him that mad, _'maybe I can help him out, judging from his stance he needs an outlet for his rage that can actually keep up, hehehehe I was in the mood for a spar anyway'_

"Oi Tachi-chan I need a sparring partner now. Well move your ass I don't have all day you know. Show me what you got"

"I'm not in the mood for a spar right now Mitirashi-san" _'the last thing I want to do is take out my anger on an innocent'_

"Look I may not know a lot of stuff about you but if there is one thing that I know a lot about its anger, trust me you need to let off some steam, sides you're the only person my age that can actually keep up with me so get in your stance, focus on what's pissing you off and keep up"

Seeing that she wasn't going to go away he decided to go with it _'it will just be for a few minutes, I really do need to blow off some steam after all'_

A few minutes turned into four hours of hard training that left both combatants sore, bleeding, exhausted and yet strangely satisfied. Itachi learnt that Anko fought like a snake, misleading, slippery and quick on her feet not to mention the snake related jutsu she had at her disposal. She was also very good at using weapons especially kunai, he couldn't count how many times he nearly got sliced if not for his Sharingan she was also very unpredictable, it was refreshing.

And he was not the only one who noticed things in his opponents fighting style, "You fight like a stiff"

"What are you talking about?" they were currently resting on a large tree enjoying the evening breeze

"I mean you take into consideration every little detail, planning re-planning. It's like you create this perfect fight in your head that requires you to use every ounce of energy or time perfectly"

"And that's a bad thing, exhausting myself in the middle of a fight isn't ideal for shinobi in battle. Every ounce of energy and chakra counts"

"Passion"

"What?"

"You're fighting style is great and all but it lacks fire, passion, it's like fighting a block of ice"

"I see"

"God you're so adorable when you're confused, look all I'm saying is that you need to stop fighting from your head and start fighting with your heart trust me on this it makes a spar or a battle enjoyable"

"Enjoyable? I thought, I really actually don't like fighting to be honest"

"Yeah I noticed that but you're a shinobi get used to it, this way you can actually be fun to be around. Life is bleak enough to kill, don't make it worse than it is, laugh, and be passionate trust me it'll save you from dying young and alone."

And with that Anko left leaving Itachi with a lot to think about. His clan praised control and power but Anko was able to match him and yet she was everything his clan stood against just like Sasuke. Those made him realize that it was time to break away from traditions and be the person he is on the inside and if his clan didn't like it then that was their problem.

The thought of rebelling against his father was terrifying and exciting at the same time. _'and I know just where to start, it's time I stop keeping my brother at arm's length and there's no way I am allowing him to be mixed up in my parents' plans. I need to protect my brother by myself, advancing in rank be damned'_ with that thought in mind Itachi made his way back to his house and hopefully a new life with his brother.

The next day

Sasuke was having the time of his life. This morning he woke up expecting the same thing that happens whenever his brother goes on a mission; get up, get dressed, have an awkward breakfast with his father ignoring him and his mother being cold to him, she wasn't always so cold whenever his big brother was around which was why he was so adamant to be like his brother so that his mother would love him like she loved his brother and his father would finally be proud of him. After breakfast he would have his sessions with his teachers, attend the academy, when he was done with that he would stay at the back of the house and train to get stronger only to come back to the same atmosphere during dinner and fall asleep hoping that his brother would be there when he woke up. On weekends it only got worse because he was stuck in the house doing nothing, and today was a weekend.

However today was different, his brother had been the one who woke him up and then he told him that they were going to train today after breakfast. He nearly choked on his breakfast a couple of times because of how fast he was eating, he knew that his brother was very important to the clan and that he could be called away at any time especially by his father but just maybe if he paid very close attention to what his brother would teach him he could finally make his clan proud and stop being 'the other son' and be recognized as a true Uchiha.

And as if his day couldn't get any better his brother took him to one of the training grounds in the village without telling anyone that they were going out, which means that until they came back no one would disturb their day together by calling his Aniki to attend to some silly clan meeting. He had his brother with him for a whole day and he was not about to let something as stupid as a clan meeting disturb that. However he was curious as to what exactly his brother was going to teach him, since he was just five years old his teachers always said he was too young to learn anything too complicated, bah what did they know?

Finally they arrived, "So what are we going to learn today Aniki?"

Flicking his forehead Itachi smiled at his brother's eagerness to learn _'he really is the best one out of all of us and it is high time I showed him that'_ "Patience Otouto I will tell you if you calm down. Good so I know from your teachers that you've learnt how to use your chakra, correct?"

"Hai"

"I'm proud of you Sasuke not everyone knows how to use chakra at your age."

Sasuke was already on cloud nine before, "That's why I'm going to teach you the clans' grand fireball jutsu"

Every kid in the clan knew exactly what that particular technique implied, it meant that you're no longer a child and your well on your way to becoming a respected member of the clan, it meant that people would start treating you with respect and best of all not only do you get to go outside the clan compound you are then permitted to wear the Uchiha clan crest on your back.

His brother had learnt and mastered that technique by the time he was five and if he does the same then there was no way that his parents would not love him. But what really made all the difference was that his beloved brother was teaching it to him. Itachi never behaved like the rest of the clan, he always treated him differently, and he always made sure that he was well taken care of and properly trained and respected. All this was definitely the reason why his eyes welled up with tears that at least one person knew him and loved him and Sasuke will never do anything to make his brothers' effort seem useless, above everyone the one person he really looked up to was Itachi.

"You really would do that Aniki?"

'_Damn you father, damn you and every member of this cursed clan for doing this to him'_ Putting his hand on his little brother head he said "I believe in you Sasuke and yes I'm going to teach the technique to you"

Sasuke uncharacteristically hugged his brother fiercely while sobbing and Itachi simply held his brother while he cried cementing his promise to take care of his brother and to make sure that he never feels alone and useless ever again, enough is enough. Yes he didn't want his brother to be thrown into this life so soon and yes he wanted him to be allowed the gift of an actual childhood but this was too much he would train his brother, he would keep him out of the hands of the clan and his evil parents. This time he wasn't going to do anything for the clan, this time it would be about keeping the things he loved safe and protected and the clan wasn't part of that and Kami help them if they hurt a hair on his brother's head.

After Sasuke finished crying the brothers went to a pond on the training ground and Sasuke cleaned his face up after which Itachi sat down and told Sasuke to do the same that way he could explain exactly what the technique entailed and then he could teach him the technique.

"Okay Otouto there are three things that you need to learn before you learn this particular technique; the first thing is the hand signs there are five of them but with enough practice and skill you can use the technique without the hand signs since your chakra would have memorized the technique and it would simply mould the technique for you. The second thing is chakra control if you don't have control over the chakra you use during the technique you won't like what happens."

Seeing the confused look on his brother's face he decided to tell him what could happen if he messed the technique up, else he was sure that Sasuke would try something out of curiosity just to see what would happen.

"If you mess anything up if you're lucky you will only burn your throat to the point where you would be able to eat anything at all not even tomatoes" seeing that Sasuke understood the dangers of messing with this technique he continued "the last thing you're going to need to learn is to breathe, yes Sasuke breathing is important trust me, so are you ready Sasuke?"

"Hai Aniki" said Sasuke eagerly

"Good so first of all before we start learning the technique I want you to master how to do a chakra control exercise" Itachi got up and walked towards a tree with Sasuke following close behind, he then sat down and picked up a leaf and placed it on his forehead and to Sasuke's shock when Itachi removed his hand the leaf remained where it was. Itachi smirked at the look on his face out of all the praises he had gotten for his skill level this was the best compliment ever.

"All you have to do is focusing your chakra on the leaf and keep it steady on your forehead for at least one minute; we will know you've mastered it when you can move it around your forehead comfortably." Itachi then displayed it for Sasuke to see, after which he picked up another leaf and handed it to Sasuke "the best thing to do is to close your eyes concentrate on your chakra then put the leaf on your forehead, then keep your hand on the leaf until you're comfortable that your chakra can keep it there then let your hand hover over the leaf, it is best you do this until you can do this comfortable for one minute after which you can then try moving it around. But you should know that if you use too mush chakra the leaf will be blown away, if the chakra is not enough it won't hold, so you can begin when you're ready."

Naturally Sasuke thought the exercise would be easy after all how just how difficult is it to stick a leaf to his forehead for one minute. But he found out when he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on his chakra that focusing his chakra on his forehead was like trying to remove a drop of water from a bowl full of water and it was frustrating and it only got worse when Sasuke in annoyance tried to force the chakra to his forehead, the result was a serious shot of pain to his forehead causing him to cry out.

"Crummers why can't I do this stupid technique all I have to do is focus and I can't even get my own chakra to listen to me?"

"Otouto the best thing to do is calm down you can't do anything if you're agitated, now the thing about chakra is that you can't force or command it to do anything, the only thing that you can do is create a channel for the chakra to pass and guide it to the place that you want it to go. So in other words calm down breathe, close your eyes and relax your mind, we have all the time in the world to do this so breathe and when you want to rest we will focus on getting you to learn the hand signs and on how to breathe. Don't worry so much Sasuke I believe in you now let's get back to work okay?"

Sasuke took a deep breath _'Aniki is right I need to calm down and get this done, guide my chakra okay I can do this'_ closing his eyes and concentrating on how his chakra moved then carefully tried to get his chakra to change its course an inch.

While his brother was busy Itachi had a thought, what would happen to Sasuke when he went on missions. I mean while he was around he could keep him safe but inevitably he will get called away on a mission and Sasuke would be vulnerable to his parents plots and schemes and while he couldn't warn him on the account that he was too young and too innocent to learn that his own parents saw him as nothing more than an expendable pawn in their game. 'Wait a minute that's it' what Itachi was considering was very dangerous and if handled poorly then it won't end well for him and Sasuke. It was time to make allies.

_Two days later_

Sasuke woke up feeling very happy about himself this weekend was the best he had ever had. Not only had he mastered the leaf exercise he also learnt the hand signs and his breathing was perfect. His brother told him that when he picked him up from school they would go to the training ground so that he could start practicing the actual technique and Sasuke was optimistic that he could do it. But the best part of the weekend was that he got to spend it with his brother without any interruptions. It was on this high that he got ready for the day and since his brother gave him his full attention his lessons in the morning were cancelled.

After breakfast both boys made their way to the academy, Itachi knew that Sasuke was just five and the academy started at age six but because his father wanted another prodigy he enrolled Sasuke in earlier but now that he didn't do what his parents wanted they turned their back on him. The whole situation really pissed him off and now it was time for him to start making moves too.

"Alright Otouto we are here, now be good okay?"

"Hai Aniki, you will come pick me up right?"

"Hai now off you go"

"Bye Aniki" With that out of the way Itachi made his way to meet with his potential new ally.

_With Naruto_

The young Namikaze was not having a good day; as a matter of fact he was having a bad day. His new grandmother, she insisted that he call her that had sent Sokka and Suki back to their parents in the capitol depriving him of his new friends. Then a team of shinobi came to guard him and they didn't like him just like the villagers especially the one with a mask around his face, he went out of his way to ignore him. But they were not around now since Kari-baa-chan had sent them away for the day since she was expecting a guest however now he was stuck reading a book in his room while she attended to her guest and the book was on math, he only just started learning but already math was the subject he despised the most, it didn't make any sense ttebayo!

In the living room Kari was serving her guest who just came in tea. When she first got his message for meeting she was stunned and very curious as to what exactly he would want from her not to mention the request for a private meeting spoke volumes in and of itself.

"So Uchiha Itachi want can I do for you?"

"Sozen-sama I came here with a personal request, I need your help"

"Why me, surely you must have other people that you can trust especially among your clan?"

"That should be the case however I don't trust them anymore, and I can't take this to the Hokage just yet it may be important but he will see it in a different light and that will complicate things for me."

"Hmm very well then what may I help you with Uchiha-san"

"You know of the way the village has been treating my clan since the Kyuubi attack five years ago?"

"Yes I do, and while I very much doubt there is a member of the clan as of now who can pull such a feat off I don't like your clan at all"

"I understand Sozen-sama, and you are right I just came to realize just how evil my clan is and I fear that if something isn't done soon the Shinobi's king may be in danger"

Kari's eyes turned cold and hard as she glared at Itachi "You speak war child, now you will tell me everything that your clan has been up to and I will decide exactly what is to become of you"

Despite her age Itachi knew that she was not to be trifled with so he adhered to her command "ever since my talents showed themselves my clan has been pushing me to improve at first I didn't mind, more power simply meant that I could protect my village and my brother from harm. But gradually it got more intense when I made Genin they immediately started pressuring me to make Chunin and when I did my father wanted me to start taking as many missions as possible to push me to my limit. They said it was for the clans' pride and as long as I could watch over my brother I didn't suspect a thing.

"But just recently learned that their ambitions run far deeper than clan pride, the clan has seen the way that they have been treated and they want to retaliate against the village that has relegated them for something that they didn't do. My parents want me to start getting close to the Hokage and to make ANBU as soon as possible so that I can be their little spy and reveal sensitive information to them to aid them in their quest for revenge. They also want to use my brother as some kind of expendable pawn in their game, by having him befriends Uzumaki Naruto and gain your trust so that when the time is right my brother would have to kill Naruto or risk his own life.

"I want to keep my brother safe I want to keep my village safe but I also don't want my clan to be able shunned for something they didn't do, yes they have never been known for their loving personalities but this is simply years of pent up resentment that has taken root and now we all have to deal with"

Kari knew she should be angry and she was but guilt was the primary emotion that she was feeling; the Uchiha had always from the time of the First Hokage been seen as a black spot on the white canvas that was the village. None of them were ever given a choice it didn't matter that they were so powerful it didn't matter that they were a noble clan, all that mattered was that Madara was bad and by default so was the rest of the clan, after all the Hyuuga clan was just as cold as there were yet they were not treated like traitors. _'We made them into this perhaps if we had been a bit more forgiving or accepting some of them would have changed and with that who knows what would have happened by now, instead we relegated a noble clan of people with long memories to being glorified policemen Kami what have we done'_

Looking at Itachi she decided right there and then that it was time for a change of heart, "Alright Itachi-kun what do you have in mind? Oh and please call me Kari-san"

Raising an eyebrow at the sudden change of heart Itachi decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth "Right now Kari-san my major fear is that my parents will start to corrupt Sasuke when I go on missions so I need someone who can take of him while I'm away and this way my clan won't suspect anything since this was part of their plan in the first place"

"Hmm very well Naru-chan needs a friend his age anyway and it sounds like your brother does too"

"Hai he's very lonely and I don't want to give my parents that amount of free time to capitalize on his thirst for attention and turn him into one of them"

"Very good Itachi-kun now what do you have in mind for your clan?"

"I don't know Kari-san I want them to change but with the way things are going the clan might need to be stopped permanently but I also don't want to do that"

"No I won't want you to either a massacre of that size will not bode well for anyone especially not your brother. Hmmm I think I have an idea n how to do this but first I need to know just how close to breaking point are we?"

"If I were to guess I would say two years, why do you ask?"

"Simple because what I'm thinking will take time and a lot of effort to accomplish but at the end I think that it will be very beneficial to us in the end and two years is just about enough time for the first phase which should buy us some more time. Also I agree with you don't tell the Hokage about any of this otherwise he will be bound by law to take such a sensitive matter to the elders and you will not like their view on this particular matter. This is going to be a long and dangerous game, are you sure you want to do this Itachi-kun because if you are not fully committed then this won't work"

'**_Life is bleak enough to kill, don't make it worse than it is, laugh, and be passionate trust me it'll save you from dying young and alone.' _**Anko was right he needed to start being passionate about the things around him no matter the cost "Hai Kari-san I am committed, so what's the plan exactly?"

Kari immediately got a devious smile on her face and as he listened to her plan that she only just thought up he was suddenly very grateful that she was on his side, damn she is one hell of a scary lady, but amazingly he fully believed that with a little work this just might work, _'Thanks for giving me the push I need Anko-san'_

Elsewhere

Anko sneezed while making her way to her favourite dango shop to drown her anger in food, and now while an angry Anko was not exactly a new thing today she was feeling particularly raged and frustrated. She was a ten year old girl and a Genin despite the fact that she had been older and a Chunin before her bastard of a Sensei betrayed her and stole her memories and years, now once again her request to join the IT department had been denied on the account that she was not old enough to be trusted to do such a high level job, now she would have been inclined to believe that if the person who told her didn't glare at her with the real reason in his eyes 'why would we trust the Snake whore with village secrets'

The worst part was that she didn't have a Genin team so the chances that she could be promoted to Chunin were very slim since there was no way she could prove herself when nobody gave her a chance to show them what she could do, thinking about it was seriously upsetting her, worse yet Kurenai was still away on her mission while she was stuck here with no team, no Sensei and no friends. Shaking her head to wipe that train of thought she simply looked forward to a few dozen plates of dango to make her feel better again. Only to round the corner and find out that the shop was closed due to the owners going on vacation.

'_Today is not my day' _about to start crying she ran and ran until her feet hurt. When she stopped she looked at where she was she realized that she was in Itachi's training ground, knowing that no one would see her she sat down by a tree and let the tears fall.

Itachi was heading towards his training ground for a little bit of peace and quiet since he had a couple more hours before he had to go and pick Sasuke up from school. He really needed some alone time because this past two days have really been trying especially today and he really could use some rest. That was when he heard something strange, _'it sounds like Anko crying again'_

And sure enough when he rounded the corner he saw Anko in a fetal position sobbing, the sight made his chest ache for some unknown reason but as he neared her his chest was not the first thing on his mind. _'The last time she was crying here and I showed up she tried to kill me then she found something funny. But how do I help her, I mean should I go and get someone or should I, ahhh for the love of…how do you comfort a crying girl with homicidal tendencies without making things worse. I mean I don't even know what she wants or why she is crying in the first place but leaving her here is not an option'_

Anko however had noticed someone was in front of her and she raised her head preparing to 'politely' tell them to leave, that was when she saw Itachi standing in front of her with a conflicted look on his face, it was so obvious that he wanted to comfort her but didn't know how.

"Itachi" Anko said softly snapping him out of his funk "seat down next to me"

He did it so stiffly that she actually felt sorry for the socially deprived Uchiha, but right now it was about her bad day and she needed someone to hold her that's all, so when he sat down she curled into his arms and rested her head on his shoulder relaxing into him and smiling when she felt how stiff he was, 'he's probably never held a girl before who knew that the Uchiha clan prodigy was so innocent, unlike me'

Itachi noticed that her bad mood was returning and while he would have preferred to just hold her like she wanted a part of him felt that she would feel better if she talks about it 'I just hope she doesn't take my head off for this'

"Anko I would love to ask you something, please?"

"Sure"

"Why were you crying?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I just want to understand and help if I can"

Anko really did not want to ruin this moment and if she told him there was a possibility that he won't like her anymore and while she appeared to be some tough as nails girl, she only had two friends and one of them was Itachi and she didn't know if she could tell him about her past.

So she raised her head to tell him that she could not tell him about why she was crying when she saw the look in his eyes; concern, confusion, interest and care. _'What the hell, he will find out about it sooner or later at least this way I can be the one that tells him and then if he hates me at least I'll know at one time that I had a friend.'_

Adjusting her position so that this time she was sitting in his lap resting her back against his chest so at least when his eyes change towards her she could pretend that he still liked her, "Okay I'll tell you but would you not interrupt me when I'm talking?"

"Okay I promise not to interrupt"

"Three years ago I graduated from the academy at the top of my class and then almost immediately I was given one of the best teams ever, not because of their skills but because they were my best friends and life got even better when our Sensei turned out to be Orochimaru. I was so excited; I was on a team with my best friends and we were being trained by one of the legendary Sannin, life couldn't get any better. I mean sure he was a tough teacher and made sure to put us through our paces thoroughly but he always praised us whenever we did well so I just took it as him preparing us for the Shinobi lifestyle. And sometimes he made me feel like I was special, I was an orphan and after a while I started to love him like a father, I was happy.

But that all changed when people started to go missing, especially when my teammates went missing. Everyone blamed him but I always defended him I mean he was the only person who I thought really loved me so I didn't like it when people started to blame him for something I didn't think he would ever do. When the accusations got too much Sensei told me to follow him, he said that we were going on a training trip just the two us, I remember being so excited; I mean I got to spend some time alone with my surrogate father. But then when we got to a spot I was knocked out at first I was so worried about him I thought we had been attacked but then when I woke up I was in so much pain that I could barely think, and two ANBU guards were standing in front of me in a cell back in Konoha.

It was then that the Hokage came in and told me everything that Orochimaru had done and how he was experimenting on people including my teammates and he had abandoned me in a base in the middle of nowhere, and branded me with a cursed seal that was slowly killing me if they hadn't found me and sealed the mark, and the worst part was how he had experimented on me hence why I was now a ten year old girl. At first I refused to believe that the man I once called father would be so cruel I prayed for it to be a nightmare that I would wake up from soon enough but I never did.

Then I was released because I had no part in anything that happened but everyone still blamed me, they treat me like trash and there are some who feel that I'm a disgusting stain on the village. If the Hokage didn't allow me to keep my Genin status the council would have made sure that I suffered for something that I didn't do. Now I am stuck without a Genin team, a Sensei, no missions because I can't be trusted, and no promotions either, worse of all is that my village hates me and I can count the number of friends I have on one hand. So that's why I'm crying" She waited in his arms for his reaction. But then he didn't say anything _'I guess he hates me too'_ "I know that you hate me but could you just hold me for now"

Itachi pulled her closer to him and rested his head on her shoulder, "I don't hate you I don't blame you for anything. What happened was not your fault you are not a traitor okay? You are my friend and I am so proud of you"

At first she thought he was pulling her legs so she turned to stare at him and tell him to stop pretending and just tell her the truth after all he won't be the first person to hate her and the last thing she needed right now was to go home thinking that she has a friend only to find out later that he was simply playing her

"What makes you say that Itachi?"

"Before I met you I was so lost, the clan that I had spent so much time loving and respecting has become a severe pain in my neck. I was so angry and so vengeful that if I didn't do something soon I was afraid that I would explode from rage. And then I found out how stupid I was for pushing my brother away and my emotions because I was trying to honour my clan anyway that I can.

I was so down that I didn't know where to turn, until I met you. You were here crying and then you went from sadness to anger then to murderous intent and finally you were so happy that I was beginning to think you were bipolar or something, yet what interested me the most was that you were so strong and yet so emotional. The next time I saw you we sparred and talked, that was when I realized what I should do. You're my inspiration Anko no one else understands me like you do and you have so much fire in you that I always feel strong whenever I think about you. You told me that I was too stiff that I needed to liven up a little and ever since then I've been trying. You're my friend and I'm so proud to be close to you."

Throughout the time that Itachi was talking Anko was silent, she was so moved that she actually started crying only this time it was happy tears '_finally someone who doesn't have a stick up their ass_'

"Did I say something wrong?"

Raising her head she looked him in the eye smiling, "No you didn't I'm just happy that's all" seeing the confused look on his face she knew he was probably wondering how anyone who was supposed to be happy would be crying, she smirked he was so naïve that it was hilarious

"Would you do me a favour Itachi?"

"Sure what is it?"

"Would please just hold me for a little while I really just need someone right now?"

"Sure" Itachi however created a clone to go and get Sasuke so that he didn't think he had abandoned him with no explanation because he had promised to never abandon his little brother again. Looking down at the purple head in his arms he realized that the list of people that he needed to protect just increased, but instead of feeling overwhelmed he felt strengthened because his reason for getting stronger just changed and unlike with his clan this time he won't mess it up.

He had a responsibility to his brother and Anko and he would keep them safe or die trying.

_One week later_

Naruto did not understand why he needed to start studying; his baa-chan had been forcing him to sit in the house and catch up on his studies. What the heck was the importance of studying the history of some dead guys' or-he shivers-learning math, and while he did not think there was anything worse than math he found that calligraphy was punishment from hell.

The endless kanji, the strokes, the curves, understanding the meaning behind every kanji, the worst part was that Kari-baa-chan was a perfectionist. If he missed even the slightest stroke he would have to redo the whole thing until he mastered it. God the nightmare was that learning calligraphy was divided into five stages: beginner, amateur, average, expert and master.

Kari-baa-chan told him that he would keep learning his calligraphy until he mastered it, and he was in the beginners stage. Kami he wanted to destroy anything paper related but his baa-chan would probably just smile and produce more Kami when will it end?

Whack!

"Ouch what the, what did you do that for ttebayo?"

"I needed to get your attention, after all how else would you learn about the battle between Uchiha Madara and the First Hokage if you are dozing off?"

"I wasn't dozing you crazy old lady" nursing his head he didn't see the ruler until,

Whack!

"Kami-fucking-damnit woman"

Whack!

"Why, why do you keep hitting me ttebayo, what did I do?"

"Unless you start behaving I will continue hitting you. Naruto you have so much potential and there is no way I'm going to allow you waste it."

"Grandma I get it but why history, math worse yet calligraphy, why baa-chan why do I have to do those dumb subjects?"

"You want to become Hokage someday right Naru-chan?"

"Yes grandmother I do"

"Then how do you expect to rule your village if you don't know its history, how would you sign documents or write letters or statements if nobody understands what you're writing?"

"Okay but why math, manners, economics, geography, and for the love of ramen politics I don't get it grandma."

Looking at her surrogate grandson's discouraged face Kari was immediately reminded of another hot-headed child, it made her wistful _'you are so much like your mother Naru-chan, she also couldn't handle anything reading but you have a hard road ahead of you and you need every advantage that you can get. I just know that if I can get you to like reading even just a little, your father's gene will make you one of the brightest of your generation.'_ Smiling at that thought and how many times Minato's love for books aggravated Kushina _'Kami no wonder those two could never agree on a past time that had nothing to do with ramen'_

"Naruto do you know what makes a truly strong Shinobi?"

"Um I guess he should have powerful techniques?"

"Well that is part of it, but the truly strong Shinobis like all the Hokages are actually three different things. The first is like you just said the Shinobi's ability to psychically defend himself; now there are various ways by which he can do that: taijutsu, kenjutsu, genjutsu, ninjutsu and fuinjutsu although the last one is not very popular because of its difficulty. The other one is medical techniques but it will take a very good Shinobi to put this particular branch of jutsu in a battle scenario so it's quite uncommon to have a front-line fighter who specializes in medical techniques. All of this makes up the body of the Shinobi and it is what keeps the Shinobi ahead of his peers and allows him to defend not only himself but his country and the people he loves. Well so long as he trains the right way but that is a topic for another day.

The second thing is the ninja's mind; it doesn't matter if you have all the techniques in the world if you don't know how to handle yourself properly you will simply be a strong brute and definitely not a leader. And when we say your mental capacities we mean everything that you have been studying and more because what you will be in the next five years will depend on the books you have read and the people you have met. Yes Naruto the books you read so if you want to be a successful leader you need to read as much as you can. Do you why the Third is known as the Professor? It is not because of his jutsu prowess but because of the fact that there is not a book or subject that he doesn't have an idea on and as such there was a time when no one could outsmart him. Heck even now he is feared as the most brilliant diplomat in the village and even though he has he faults when he puts his mind to something he gets it done but he won't be able to perform as smoothly as he does if he wasn't an avid reader.

The last one is the heart of the Shinobi: the thing you need to know Naruto is that this path, the path of the ninja is filled with dangerous circumstances and situations that has broken even the strongest of men and turned angels into monsters. It is not a path like those knights that you've read about where a knight fights a couple of bad guys and then he wins and gets a princess and a beautiful kingdom where they live happily ever after. No, that is not what this is, this is a war zone where anything can happen, where your best friend can become your worst enemy and vice versa. It is a path that has brought thousands to their knees, in this path if you live past twenty-five then you're either very, very lucky or extremely good."

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes to push the images of all those people that she had met and buried while being a ninja, Kami old age was not a blessing in this world not with all the heartache and misery that you would have seen especially for those of them who had seen war. God this life was not a place for the weak hearted at all. Looking at her surrogate grandson she realized that he was waiting for her to finish and thankfully it seemed that he was at least paying attention to her this time,

"This world will break you or change you in ways you would never imagine, and if you're going to be Hokage then you need to find something to believe in and stick to it. The will of fire is what all the past Hokages and the Shinobi of Konoha hold on to; it is simply seeing the village as your own family and drawing strength from the knowledge that the entire village is counting on you and looking to you to protect them and after the way that they have treated you Naruto you have every right to hate this village, but if you wish to lead them then you must love them and draw strength from that love as you grow older you will get stronger in your heart but the basic fact is that you must love them. So Naruto do you want to be the best Shinobi, the Hokage or do you wish to be a mediocre Shinobi?"

Naruto bowed his head deep in thought about everything that he had heard. She was right the village had treated him so badly; I mean why should he fight to defend a village that hated him and treated him like he was a monster? He should hate them, hell they deserved it. But if he hated them and sorts to destroy them how is he any better than them? His parents gave their lives for this village and they loved him but how could he love this village, how?

"Grandma I don't think I can love them I know I should but they have hurt me too much I don't hate them because that won't make me any better than them but I can't love them, I just can't"

Kari sighed _'I need to change his mind because if Naruto doesn't believe in the village with the way they would treat him it won't be long before his young heart starts to lean towards hating them, and with the being inside of him it will be a disaster if the Kyuubi notices, he will capitalize on it and turn Naruto into the monster that they have portrayed him to be. Something has to be done quickly or else, hmmm I wonder well it is worth a try, okay'_

"Naruto do you know the two strongest emotions in the world and the emotions that has driven the best of Shinobis?"

"No baa-chan I don't"

"Love and hate. Those are the two strongest emotions in the world. Hate is easy to feel and build on, it is made up of resentment, anger, pride, entitlement and jealousy or the most common; revenge. Hatred is a feeling that starts small and grows over time, it is in everyone and the beauty of hatred is that it makes life seem easy, no one will mess with you, people will whisper your name in fear, everywhere you go nobody will dare disrespect you. It will grant you the ability to shed 'useless' emotions like humility and compassion after all why in the world should you bow down to anyone when you can simply put them in their place and if you are strong enough no one will ever question you or dare speak out of term in fear of what you might do.

Your pesky humanity disappears and everything that you do is justified because after all what does anyone know, they haven't gone through what you have so how dare they try to tell you what to do. It will be so easy to breathe because no one will ever be there to bother you. But you will end up being hated yourself and whenever you have a problem no one will support you in fact some will even be happy at your demise and dear god if you should ever be rendered powerless even a little bit people, including those around you will seek to kill you and when you die no one will mourn but they will be people who will celebrate your death, thanking Kami for removing the monster forever.

Love however is a different story entirely; it is the hardest emotion to maintain in times of hardships. It always come back to bite you in the ass because love is comprised of compassion, forgiveness, loyalty, and gentleness. All of which are seen by a lot of people as a weakness. Love will make you look like a fool to everyone around you and it will make you stupid. The other thing is that while it will take longer love will make you a force to be reckoned with; love is a will that is best strengthened during fire. Steel before it becomes strong and useful it must pass through the furnace and I'm sure you can guess just how hot a furnace is, but it must pass through it if it desires to become everything that it is supposed to be. That is the thing about love it requires patience and determination to maintain and even more when hatred is justified because at that point the part of you that loves being bad and rebellious will feel that you are taking this whole loving thing a little bit too far, can't you just bend a little. And you would be inclined to bend thinking that it is just a tiny slip that you can still control yourself but unlike love hatred is born in tiny slips.

Lastly when you are down love will bring someone to pull you up and keep you safe. You will always have someone who will look up to you, because when people see leadership in its truest form they won't be able to resist following you and some will gladly give their lives just because of you, it will be something similar to being Hokage. Naruto I know you don't like them, but this is where you have to choose, so choose my boy, love or hate?"

Naruto started crying at his grandmother's words because when she first started speaking he wanted to choose hatred he could feel the emotion rearing its head and even though he heard the bad sides of following that path he still wanted to hate, it was so easy. But then he remembered that if he felt this way then what would his parents say and won't he just prove the villagers' right by becoming a monster and god when she started talking about love he realized how foolish he had been, he had promised his parents that he would make them proud but he couldn't.

Kari saw he only needed a small push so she put her arms around him and pulled him close, she let him cry for a few more minutes then she said, "I know it is hard Naruto but you need to understand that just because you love the village doesn't mean that you can't outdo your mothers' prank record after all as a civilian certain rules of behaviour don't apply to you"

The comment made Naruto laugh, "Okay grandmother I will love my village I promise"

"I am so proud of you Naruto and I just know that your parents are too"

"Thank you grandmother I really don't know what I would have done without you" and boy did he mean it.

"So are you ready to take your studies seriously now?"

Taking a deep breath Naruto looked his baa-chan in the eyes, "Hai no more mediocre"

Meanwhile Kyuubi saw the whole thing and while he should feel angry that his chances of corrupting the boy have been greatly reduced instead he was curious to see just how the ningen will handle the big bad world especially with the old lady manipulating him, and he had to admit that the pranks definitely aroused his interest. **"Let's see what you're made of kit"**

_Meanwhile, another week later _

Anko was suspicious. She had been called in by the civilian council and the village elders who apparently had a mission for her. Now she would have been inclined to trust the council and the Elders she knew that they didn't like her at all and they were the first people who protested that she should be locked up instead of being reinstated as a Genin and now those same people had a mission for her that the Hokage couldn't hand to her? She was definitely suspicious alright but it didn't matter what they thought she was going to prove them wrong.

"Anko Mitirashi reporting for duty"

"Ah hello Mitirashi-san" said the head of the civilian council Saki and if Anko didn't know any better she would say that she looked a little bit too happy to see her and after scanning the faces of the people in the room she noticed that they were all giddy for some reason that she couldn't phantom and it put her on edge.

"We have a mission for you Mitirashi-san it is also a test"

"Did you say a test?"

"Indeed" continued Koharu "if you successfully complete this mission you will be promoted to Chunin, on the field promotion basis thereby helping you bypass your no team setback that we unfortunately have been unable to solve yet."

Anko didn't like this one bit, the entire setup practically reeked of foul play but she was a Genin from a civilian family so she had no clot whatsoever to start questioning her 'superiors' especially not when there was a promotion involved, this way if she did successfully finish the mission then even if they refused to promote her the Hokage who liked her will be law-bound to honour the words of both his advisors and the civilian council and promote her, so the way she saw it, it was worth the risk.

"What do I have to do?"

The people in the civilian council all had devilish smiles on their faces as Koharu gave Anko a briefing on her solo mission,

Saki head of the civilian council who had lost her children to Orochimaru and her husband to the Kyuubi felt that justice was finally being served, _'the Hokage and that old hag may have taken the Kyuubi brat under their protection but the Snake's whore will pay and finally our village will be one step closer to getting its revenge on these abominations that walk our streets.'_

Itachi frowned when Anko told him of what happened and her mission specs, it was too easy. She was supposed to go to Wind country and pick up a package from a travelling merchant and transport it to Konoha all by herself after which she would be promoted to Chunin, it was far too easy.

"I don't like this one bit Anko"

"Believe me Tachi-chan I don't either but it is my best chance at getting promoted all I have to do is make to Wind country and back, no sweat"

"I'm coming with you, if I take a leave now I can follow you without anyone asking questions"

"That's sweet of you Tachi-chan but we both know that you won't leave Sasuke here by himself on a leave. I can handle myself"

Itachi definitely didn't like this, and as much as he wanted to escort her he knew that Sasuke needed him here, he had finally been able to make a small ball of fire two days ago and he would not appreciate being left behind plus if his father came across Sasuke practicing a C-rank technique with such efficiency it will not end well. Unless, the idea was crazy but Anko was always saying he needed to start thinking outside the box and the idea was just crazy enough to work.

"I just wish Kurenai wasn't doing back to back missions" Anko said while the two of them sat under the tree in their private training area unaware of Itachi's thought process.

"You are supposed to leave first thing tomorrow morning right?"

"Yes what about it?"

"A tradition in the Uchiha clan is that when an adult Uchiha feels the need to train his fire affinity to its upmost level he goes on a trip to the clans' sacred compound outside the village"

"Okay what does that have to do with me?"

"He is also supposed to take a member of the clan with him, a member of the clan head's family"

"I still don't get it"

"I think it is time I start to train my fire affinity to its upmost level something I'm sure my family would approve of but my father and mother are too busy to escort me and since I must take a member of the clan heads' family with me I have no choice but to bring my little brother along. I think we can leave tomorrow morning too. And then outside the gate I could simply decide to head over to Wind country to train and come back home after I miss my way to the compound of course."

Seeing where he was going with this Anko smirked "Yeah but there's a kink in your master plan, what happens to Sasuke when you get 'lost'"

"That's easy I believed that I could find my way without an escort so I decided to hand him over to Sozen Kari who is more than capable of handling him while I go train and return, she also promised to keep his location a secret after all I wouldn't want to get my escort in any trouble"

Anko couldn't take it anymore she doubled over laughing, "I think you have been spending too much time with Kari if you can come up with shit like that on command."

"Oh I was just thinking out loud but since you heard all that do you think the Valley of End is a good meeting I mean resting place, pardon the slip I would want to honour the patriarch of my great clan"

Anko couldn't for the life of her provide an answer she only nodded because she was too busy laughing, but after she was done she gave Itachi a genuine smile, "Thank you"

'_Totally worth it'_ "You are welcome I should probably get going there is someone I need to ask a favour of"

Anko smirked as she watched him go _'you really are a good friend Tachi-chan'_

Ino and her mother were doing some late shopping not because they really needed anything but because her mom was worried about her. For the past few weeks Ino had been obsessed with finding Katara's twin; apparently there was a female who looked just like Katara and dressed her like but behaved so strangely and refused to answer any of their questions only to vanish when the real Katara showed up.

Ino had nearly driven herself crazy when Katara informed them that she did not have a sibling let alone a twin, so Ino's questions were who was the mystery girl and why did she wear Katara's clothes and come to the playground where they usually meet? Was she trying to pretend to be Kat? But even if she was why not behave like Kat? Wouldn't an imposter at the very least behave like the person who they are impersonating so that they can avoid being caught? I mean why would a spy behave like they didn't want to be where the friends of their subject were? Was she or he trying to use Kat's body to do something bad so that Kat would be blamed for it and if so what?

To be honest while Mito was glad that her daughter was proud of the detective in her daughter that was determined to find out the details of any mystery that was presented before her. It showed that she had a talent for unravelling puzzles which would suit her well as not just a Yamanaka but as a Kunoichi in the future. After all a good head for solving problems and being a good investigator is exactly what a Yamanaka is supposed to be just like her husband. This was going too far just this morning Ino had decided to go around the playground roughly questioning all the children both male and female looking for any guilty person and when that failed she started questioning the parents.

'_The only reason she is questioning everyone instead of just the young females was because her father had told her about what the Henge was and exactly what it was capable of doing. I just wish she would realize that if the person was a spy, the higher-ups would have known about it by now at least'_

But she could definitely understand the need to find out exactly what this new entity was, she herself was also curious to finds out who would do something like this because when she first heard it she thought it was probably some kid trying to be naughty but then Ino told her that she didn't notice him or her having fun in fact she could have sworn that the person didn't want to be there.

"Hey mom can I check around by myself for a while?"

"Absolutely sweetheart about you come find me at the nightgown section when you are done?"

"Mom what happened to your own nightgown?"

"It got ripped up"

"How did that happen?"

"Ino just go would you?" because there was no way she was going to tell her what really happened to her gown, but she was definitely wasn't complaining about what torn it up. _'Damn Inoichi and his devious imagination'_ just the thought of it was getting her hot.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts for now, she said goodbye to daughter while she went to browse for new nightgowns.

'_Weird'_ Ino decided to head to the shoes section to find a pair of new shoes just for the heck of it, she was already planning on giving up on trying to find out who the fake Kat was when she heard,

"Look at those shoes they remind me of when that damn demon fox dressed up like a girl"

"What are you talking about I know that beast is a male don't tell me he can change his body too?"

"No we were chasing him and then we lost him, only for me to notice a child with blond spiky hair wearing a pink top and white shirk with pink shoes on."

"Damn he must have gone crazy or something?"

"He is a fox what did you expect? Naturally I noticed something was wrong then when he turned we knew it was him"

"Stealing a little girl's clothes I hope you guys taught him a lesson?"

"That's just it the god-forsaken fox got a way around four blocks to the playground"

"Please tell me that you're joking?! How could you lose that beast so close to the little children what would have happened if he got one of them?"

"Believe me I didn't like it either I really wish that damn fox would just die already"

"You and everyone else sister just make sure that next time and you don't let him get to places like the playground ever again"

"Oh don't worry next time he won't survive I will see to it myself"

"Ino"

Ino jumped up at the sound of her mom's voice, turning back she noticed that the women had left and were walking towards the exit and while she wanted to follow them and ask them some questions she knew that her mom won't allow her not to mention the fact that they may not even talk to her, no one takes a five year old seriously after all.

"Ino I'm talking to you are you okay?"

"Yeah mom I'm fine"

'_What happened? I leave her for a few minutes thinking she would come and meet me soon only to find her so focused on two people talking and now she is so deep in thought one would think that she was deciding the fate of an entire village, ever since she met that unknown girl she has changed where is my playful little girl?'_

"Ino why don't we go home we can do our shopping some other time?"

"Okay mom let's go"

'_She doesn't even want to shop this has to end, the day Ino Yamanaka doesn't want to spend money shopping for clothes is the day something is terribly wrong'_

_At the Yamanaka house_

While resting in bed with her husband Mito decided to tell him about Ino so that they could do something if they had to wipe her memory of everything she would not mind, she just wanted her little girl back,

"What's wrong love?"

"Inoichi there is something wrong with Ino"

"You mean with her need to find this mystery girl I wouldn't worry about it"

"It is serious dear I think you should wipe her memory just so she can be back to normal"

"Okay that is going too far for something as small as this"

"She didn't want to shop today"

"Wait at all?"

"Not even remotely"

"Oh dear still wiping her memory will be a bit too much I think I can suppress it so that she doesn't see it as so important"

"Do it tonight this can't wait"

"Alright, she didn't want to buy anything?"

"Not a single thing"

"Damn okay let's do this"

When they entered into Ino's room they noticed that she was wide awake so Inoichi decided to put her to sleep using a genjutsu.

Meanwhile Ino was having a migraine from all the thoughts running through her mind: Why was there a demon fox in Konoha? Is there even something like a demon fox? Why in the world would the Hokage even allow a demon fox roam the village? Why was something like a demon fox even in a hospital wearing girl clothes for that matter? If there really was a demon fox in Konoha then he was able to transform into anyone he wished so how did she know he wasn't stalking her? Or toying with her?

The endless questions were beginning to wear her down until all of a sudden her eyes started to drop and she realized that she was falling asleep.

_The next day_

Ino woke up late in the morning and when she went to brush her teeth she nearly screamed at the condition her face was in, she has bags under her eyes for goodness sake! How in the world did this even happen? But as she tried to remember she noticed that she couldn't and somehow she wasn't sure she even wanted to, not if it was the cause of the bags under her eyes.

She decided to get dressed then head straight to the mall and get some make-up to cover her eyes, no way was she going to the playground looking like this and she needed some new clothes too, to go with her new look not to mention the fact that she couldn't remember the last time she went shopping, _'where has my head been, my clothes are so yesterday'_

When she got downstairs she noticed that her parents were in the sitting room, she was so pleased that her dad had not gone to work today which would give her time to convince him to follow her and mom shopping, this way she could buy even more stuff.

"Dad!" running into her father's lap she said with an annoyed look on her face, "see dad see my eyes there are bags there, bags daddy"

Laughing Inoichi and his wife shared a relieved look, "Well sweetheart maybe it is a sign of maturity"

"Nani, what kind of maturity I'm five and this is not okay"

"Well what do you want to do princess?"

"Shop for make-up duh, what else I would do daddy sheesh"

"Well while I normally would not agree to a five year old using make-up I think we can make an exception just this once"

"Thanks daddy you're the best"

"Why don't we all go I'm sure you would want to buy new clothes sweetheart"

"Of course mom my clothes are so yesterday and since dad is coming he can carry everything"

"Indeed he can"

Inoichi knew that he would lose if he decided to argue so he just agreed and the whole family was off with Ino going on about the entire juicy gist she knew about but the worrying thing was that there were holes in her memory and while she wasn't concerned about it now it won't be long before she starts to notice.

'_Oh well we will have to deal with that later for now we just need to focus on giving her new memories to suppress the old ones but I just hope she doesn't hate us for this when she eventually finds out.' _

_Meanwhile outside the gates of Konoha_

"Aniki, why do I have to stay with someone while you go on this training trip why can't I just stay at home?"

Sasuke did not want to go to some unknown babysitter that he had never met before, he didn't even understand why his brother needed to leave anyway he was strong enough as he is he didn't need to get stronger, but when he asked him that he remembered what his brother said,

"_I may be strong now Sasuke but in other to protect you better I need to get stronger because it doesn't matter how strong you are there will always be someone just as strong who is training to be stronger and if you lax when you two meet he will have the advantage, and that is not an advantage I am ready to give out." _

While he didn't understand much of what his brother told him he knew that his brother was just trying to look out for him but how he knew that there was someone just as strong as him somewhere Sasuke did not know, but he was just going to have to trust his brother on this one. That didn't mean he liked it though after all his brother promised to teach him how to expand his chakra reserves so that he can make a bigger fireball, the one he could make now was seriously small he wanted to make one like his brother so that his father would be proud of him.

"Sasuke this is better trust me"

"I trust you Aniki it is the babysitter that I don't trust, what if he tries to feed me sugar and I get too hyperactive?"

Itachi smiled his little brother did not like eating sweets because they made him sugar high and father did not like it so in other to please his father Sasuke did not take sweets even his favourite strawberry sundae. He was almost tempted to feed him one because while his father did not like Sasuke on sugar high he did, he was always freer and that was the way he wanted his little brother to behave; free.

"Don't worry Sasuke I made sure she knows that you don't like sweets"

"Wait did you tell her why?!"

"Of course" said Itachi with a smirk

"But Aniki that is so embarrassing, he will think I'm a weird kid or something"

"Well your hair is styled like a duck and your babysitter is a female not a male"

"Well that's even worse what if she is an old lady that will force me to obey her every will and eat vegetables and my hair is not styled like a duck"

"If you say so Sasuke"

"Oi Aniki seriously what kind of babysitter is this?"

"You know the best way to know someone is to meet them personally"

Spinning around Sasuke noticed an old lady with an amused smile on her face and he ran behind Itachi causing both Kari and Itachi to chuckle,

"Well aren't you a cute little boy Sasu-chan?"

Sasuke didn't move from his position behind his brother and while at the back of his mind he knew he was being childish but he didn't care right now he wanted to not go with this woman he wanted to go home with his brother train to impress his father and forget this ever happened. Unfortunately Itachi had other plans literally.

"Kari-san" bowing in greeting he waited for her to do the same before straightening back up "this is my brother Sasuke"

Sticking his head behind his brother's leg he waved at Kari causing her to smile and wonder where the bold playful child was, "You know I have a grandson at home who is just about your age Sasu-chan"

"Oh? Okay, can we go now Aniki?"

Itachi almost gave in but he knew that he was needed somewhere else but he also knew that if he didn't leave in the right manner then Sasuke will be hell to deal with and part of the plan hinged on Sasuke and Naruto becoming good friends,_ 'So how to do this?'_

Luckily for him Kari got this one covered, "I hear you have been training Sasu-chan, well my grandson is training to be a Shinobi too but he needs all the help he can get, so will you please help him?"

Sasuke immediately wanted to say no before he heard, "like a big brother would?"

After that he decided that if there was someone out there who needed his help then he will help him then when his father hears that he was helping someone else become a good Shinobi then his father would definitely be impressed and he could show his brother that he could look out for someone too just like him.

So he meekly came out and nodded his head,

"You know your brother needs to go but first he needs a hug and a promise that you will be a good boy, will you do that Sasu-chan"

"Hai" hugging his brother he looked up and said "you can go now Aniki I promise I will be good you'll see"

"I know you will thank you Kari-san _'for being awesome'_ I will be back soon" kissing his Otouto's head he said "I will be back as soon as I can wait for me okay?"

"Hai Aniki and beat that guy whoever he is"

Laughing Itachi turned after bowing one more time to Kari and took off to the Valley Of End to meet with Anko _'who I hope is not pissed at me for being late wait a minute'_

Stopping on a branch Itachi focused on a chakra signature to his right, "Anko?"

"You got it in one Tachi-chan. My your little brother is cute"

"I thought you were supposed to meet me at the Valley of End"

Anko started fidgeting and mumbled something under her breath

"I'm sorry what?"

"I said I don't know where the Valley of End is"

Itachi raised an eyebrow but he knew that teasing her right now will not end well for him so how to do this delicately "Okay come on let's go, think you can keep up?"

Anko raised her head and smirked when she saw the changeling smile on Itachi's face, "You are going to regret that _Tachi-chan_"

And with that the two of them took off not knowing what they would meet but they were assured that whatever happens they would face it together.

_Root Underground_

_Danzo's office_

"You sent for me Danzo-sama?"

"Ah Shin my favourite solider, how are you doing today?"

'_Waiting for you to die'_ "I am doing fine thank you for asking Danzo-sama"

"Yes, yes and how is your health?"

'_Just get to the point you disgusting war hawk'_ "The doctors tell me that I'm more than fit for duty"

"Just the way I like it, I have something here for you but first how is your little brother Sai?"

'_God no why is he asking after Sai?'_ "He is fine Danzo-sama"

"Excellent I actually don't think he has any friends, does he?"

"No Danzo-sama" _'Because you refuse to allow him outside the base'_

"How awful this needs to be corrected at once, now I know a certain blond child who is Sai-chan's age I think they will make good friends, you should know him, the Kyuubi Jinchuriki?"

'_Why?'_ "It sounds like a great idea Danzo-sama"

"Yes, yes every five year old should have friends his age but I'm worried that he might get hurt playing with his new friends so would you please watch him for my peace of mind?"

"Yes Danzo-sama"

"Thank you Shin I trust that you will fill me in on little Sai's adventures, right?"

Instantly Shin understood, he wants Sai to be his little spy and he would then get all the info back to Danzo, his little brother the only thing that kept him going was going to be used by Danzo, hell no.

"I trust I don't have to ask Sai-chan about his day myself do I Shin?"

"No Danzo-sama I will report his day back to you"

"Thank you so much Shin you have eased this old man's fears, the Kyuubi jinchuriki is staying with Sozen Kari I'm sure you know where she stays?"

"Hai Danzo-sama I will make sure to follow your orders"

"That's why I like you Shin oh and I almost forget here this are drugs that will help with your dreadful condition"

"Thank you for your kindness Danzo-sama"

"You are very welcome, well off you go"

Bowing Shin got up and left.

'_Kami what am I going to do, wait Sozen Kari that's…'_ smirking at the thought of finally getting ahead of Danzo Shin relaxed _'I will see you destroyed Danzo I swear I will'_

Entering his room he saw his little brother sitting on the ground drawing, he was so proud of Sai a five year old with such a gift for drawing and calligraphy that was far above his years and while he hated Danzo's guts he had to agree with the bastard on one thing, Sai needed friends his own age.

"Hey Otouto"

Turning around Sai noticed his brother, "Hey Aniki, see my new drawing is it good?"

It was an old hawk and it immediately reminded Shin of Danzo and he chuckled "I think it is very good Sai-kun. Tell you what would you like to go to the village with me; there are some friends that I want to introduce you too?"

"Really Aniki we get to go into the village?"

"Yes Otouto now get dressed then we will go"

A few minutes later Shin teleported them to the village and from there they made their way to Kari's home estate _'I hope she is around and she accepts me because while the seal on my tongue prevents me from speaking anything bad against Danzo if she asks the right questions and pieces together the story then I will have an ally against Danzo. If not then at least Sai will have a friend. All hinged on how smart Kari really is' _

Meanwhile Kakashi was tearing his way towards Wind country to look for a poison to kill Naruto. Since the day he and his team had started watching the little devil Kakashi had slowly been losing his sanity. He couldn't take it anymore that beast dared show mannerisms similar to his surrogate parents and he even dared bear the name that Sensei had wanted to call his child who died during the Kyuubi attack.

'_I hate him that disgusting vermin that beast, the fact that he looks like little Naruto Sensei's son is blasphemy. He must die I don't care what happens to me I don't care what the Uchiha clan wants anymore I am going to sneak into Suna find the strongest most painful poison I can find and watch that beast die a slow and painful death which is exactly what he deserved'_

_Back with Kari and Sasuke_

"So where do you stay Kari-san?"

"Well I stay in an estate with my surrogate grandson"

"What is the meaning of surrogate?"

"Well surrogate means someone who is not your family by blood but by bond."

"How can someone be your family by bond? What do you mean by that I thought family was family?"

"Well you are right family is family but you have a family that you are born into, you share a lot with them especially the fact that you are all from the same bloodline, just like you are an Uchiha. However when you start to like other people who are not your family by blood and you wish to protect them, people who are there for you through everything and depend on you just as much then they become your surrogate family: family that you choose and stick to no matter what."

"So I can have two families?"

"Yes Sasu-chan you can, you can have a surrogate father, mother, sister and brother all you have to do is choose to."

Sasuke started looking incredibly shy

"What's wrong Sasu-chan?"

"Will-will you be my surrogate grandmother, I don't have any"

The request warmed Kari to her core, "Of course Sasu-chan I will"

When she said that his face lit up then he looked ahead and saw something, "Is that Naruto Baa-chan?"

Looking ahead Kari noticed two people that she was sure she had never seen before, "No Sasu-chan but remember what I said about surrogate family? Good because I have a feeling that that little boy and Naruto need a brother like you, what do you say?"

"Hai Baa-chan"

"That's my boy" standing in front of the two kids she asked, "So what are your names please?"

"My name is Shin and this is my little brother Sai"

"Hi my name is Sasuke and this is my surrogate grandmother"

"Sasu-chan why don't you and Sai-chan go inside and find Naru-chan then tell him to show you guys around then you make sure you guys have fun I will join you guys soon okay?"

"Is it okay if I go Aniki?"

"Sure"

"Come on Sai lets go find Naruto"

After the boys were gone Kari adopted her cold face "You are with Danzo aren't you?"

"You are weeeelllll informed" while saying well Shin showed Kari his tongue causing her to narrow her eyes.

"Are you with the fox willingly?"

"I was"

"I see. Your plus one is he an owl or a dove?"

"He is an oblivious owl"

"Who is the messenger?"

"The one who was with the fox willingly"

"What do you want?"

"To see that the old fox accepts nature and moves on"

"I see do you want this to happen easily or the opposite?"

"The opposite"

Shin then showed her his drugs and let his true condition fall from his pocket and after reading it and seeing the medication that he was taking in super slow motion she became pissed, "It shall be done"

"I only care for the owl not the messenger to be safe from the old fox"

"Well I care for both the owl and the messenger don't worry"

"I must go"

"Go"

_Meanwhile inside_

Naruto was waiting in the living room for his Baa-chan and the new child that she was bringing; Sasuke. When he first heard that a child his age was coming to spend some time with him he was ecstatic especially since this Sasuke was training to be a Shinobi too. But right now he was nervous I mean what was the guarantee that they would even get along, what if he had been told by his parents to stay away from him. His Baa-chan told him that this one was special and while he trusted her he definitely wanted to have a surrogate brother but what if the brother didn't want him?

Sasuke and Sai entered the house and saw a blond boy sitting quietly on the couch looking deep in thought, while Sai was polite enough to wait for their new brother according to Sasuke to notice them Sasuke was not.

"Oi"

Startled Naruto noticed two boys who looked that they could use some serious sun staring at him, _'I thought there was only one person coming now there are two of them what am I going to say now?'_

"_Naruto_"

"Huh?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"Huh nothing I thought there was only one of you coming"

"Yea Baa-chan saw Sai at the gate and now he is our surrogate brother too"

"Hello Naruto-nii-san"

"We're brothers?"

"Yeah dobe what are you deaf now?"

"Teme watch it"

"Or what Dobe, you probably don't even know how to be a Shinobi if you didn't notice us enter"

"Says the duck butt"

"What was that?"

The two boys were now standing a foot away from each other glaring while Sai was sitting on the couch wondering why they were being like this but something told him that this might just be how they would be from now on.

"You better take that back Dobe or else"

"Or else what duck butt?"

"Why I outta…"

"Well I'm glad you two are getting along"

"He started it Baa-chan"

"What I didn't start anything Baka right Sai?"

"They both started it"

"Oi"

"What?"

Kari smiled because she had this firm belief that the three of them would grow up to be just fine, 'you know what a jinchuriki, an Uchiha clan heir, a possible ROOT spy. This is a recipe for disaster but I won't let that happen. They are brothers from this day forward and I just know that I'm not the only one who would see that.

And she was right because in their hidden places the three weapons made by Shigeru Ayumu glowed brightly awaiting the day that their wielders' would come and collect them. And the weapons made by Eriko's mother also wanted to be joined to their brothers so they glowed as well, and these weapons are:

Cerberus the Water Hydra

Force edge the Earth Griffin

Agni and Rudra the Fire Phoenix

Rebellion the Wind Dragon

And Yamato the Lightning Leviathan

_Three days later_

_In Wind country_

Itachi tailed Anko as she made her way into the cavern that was supposed to be the meeting place but they could both feel a chill run through their spines and they shared the same thought _'This will not end well'_

The plan was that she would enter first and check the place out just in case the mission was actually legit, then if she ran into trouble Itachi would sneak into the underground cave and wait until such a time when it is very clear that Anko needed back-up because if such a time comes then they both agreed that only they could come out of the cavern alive so that no one knows that Itachi was with her. That way she can head back to Konoha, claim the mission was a success based on the fact that she came out alive and with evidence of everything that happened which was why she summoned some of her small snakes and Itachi summoned a few crows to keep watch and act as witnesses to the mission so that the council will have no choice but to promote her to Chunin.

'_So why do I have this pit in my stomach? Wait what's that?'_ Listening closer to the voices in the cave she heard a conversion that sent shivers through out her entire body,

"This is it Suna is only a day away and we can finally kill that blasted Kazekage for daring to deny us entry"

"You are too impatient and it is starting to piss me off"

"Says you I thought you don't like to be kept waiting. Moreover this new body of yours is slowing us down Sasori"

A hunched back puppet wearing a black cloak with red clouds on it said in annoyance "Keep talking Ichigo and I will make you my new body" when he said this a scorpion-like tail came out from the back of the robe

His companion an orange-haired 6,1 ex-Kusa nin simply glared hard at his partner, _'I don't even know why I'm here waiting for this freak, my blades of chaos are screaming for blood, that bastard's blood who dares think that he can deny me my chance to serve Jashin-sama with my sacrifices. How will I attain immortality if I can't offer sacrifices to the great Jashin-sama. Oh he will pay and then I will bathe Suna in blood'_

Practically drooling at the things he would do when Sasori gets whatever body he is looking for he missed the swing Sasori took at his head until he felt something wheeze past him bringing him back to Earth and not happy for the call-back,

"What the hell is wrong with you? You fucking cocksucker I should kill you for doing that, why the hell do you even need a new body anyway?"

"Simple I need her because of the blood in her veins, with the seal on her neck if I can extract some samples of her tainted blood I will be able to make a poison that will be legendary in both its potency and the amount of pain it can cause"

"I like it already if you can do this I will join your so-called Akatsuki"

'_Why else would I have not killed you by now?'_

He then focused on a spot to his left and smirked "Well, well, well looks like we don't have to wait anymore do we Anko-san?"

When telling the story later she would swear she had died and gone to heaven because one second she had the attention of two S-rank criminals and the next second the landscape changed to a plain open space and she noticed she was breathing heavily and on the verge of passing out and when she felt a hand on her shoulder she started crying pleading to Kami for a quick death until she heard a voice that she from that day forward called the voice of her saviour,

"Damn Anko you can run fast"

Turning around she fell into Itachi's arms and held him so tightly that he wondered if she was somehow coping Tsunade Senju then she started sobbing heavily into his chest and while he didn't know what to do before he did now, so he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

'_I wonder what happened in there to make her so scared she's practically shaking.'_

About half an hour later Anko stopped crying and jumped out of Itachi's arms startled and frankly a little crazy

"Where, where, where are they? Itachi they are after me! Please don't let them find me! Itachi…"

Itachi grabbed her and her close, "Whoever they are Anko you lost them if I didn't have my Sharingan on I wouldn't have seen you blow past me. With you going at that speed I knew something was very wrong so I set up a string of genjutsu that will confuse them for a while and by the time they break out of it my crows would have eliminated our tracks making it difficult for them to track us. And if we leave now we can ditch them for good."

He had barely finished talking before Anko took off again and this was the moment that he knew that Anko had unnatural stamina because she kept running until she blew past the Wind country border by at least a hundred miles while he had to stop and take at least five solider pills that he knew he would regret when he had the chance to rest. Anko didn't stop until she passed out thankfully he had enough adrenaline to take her to a shop just ahead before he too passed out with one thought _'Damn we are going to feel this when we wake up'_

However while the dango shop owners took this strangers in and cared for them until they got strong enough to go home there was one other strangler in Suna that was lost.

Kakashi the prodigy, the Copy Ninja was embarrassingly lost. In his haste to make it to Suna he forgot that he had never been to Suna before and he had no idea how to get there and the only thing keeping him from losing his sanity in this wide desert was the small cabin house that he saw ahead of him

'_I will get a map from there and hopefully some water then I will make my way towards Suna find that poison and kill that beast'_ Oh how wrong he will be.

Meanwhile Sasori was heading back to Akatsuki HQ with Ichigo's body after he started laughing and taunting Sasori for sending a female running like the devil was at her heels because of his ugly art and ways.

'_I will just have to find another way to make that super poison, but how the hell is it possible for a body like that to generate that much speed it is unnatural'_


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning: Not for the faint of heart.**

Chapter 3

Anko stood in front of the gates of Konoha severely pissed off. She kept looking at her village, the village that sent her on a suicide mission after everything she had done for it. The cursed seal had broken free of its restraints after the incident a week ago. Throughout all past week it had been whispering dark thoughts into her mind during the day and at night it gave her dreams of the destruction of the village that dared to try to kill her, and she liked it.

As she stood a few paces outside the gate her cursed seal sort blood and so did she. She wanted to make them all pay. She wanted to make them suffer like she had. Enough is enough of wanting to be an obedient ninja. _'Sensei was right, it is better to be feared than loved'_

A while ago the thought of copying her vile Sensei even a little would have made her sick to her stomach but now it comforted and inspired her. She wanted to be feared but leaving the village won't satisfy her bloodlust oh no, she would stay here and at every opportunity punish them. Thankfully she knew the laws of Konoha like the back of her hand so was free to do as she pleased and still be a Shinobi and when she did do something very _'good'_ she knew how to cover her tracks.

Because right now she didn't care about making Chunin or even getting promoted at all or getting stronger to kill Orochimaru. Right now she had all the power she needed to stay in the village and refuse to go on missions what was the worst thing they can do, demote her or refuse to send her on missions or send her to prison for something they won't be able to prove, no they won't and before they even do she would make their lives of the civilians especially a living hell.

'_You were right Sensei they don't deserve to live screw experiments they must pay in blood'_

"**Kill"** whispered the cursed seal **"kill, kill, and kill."**

'_Soon, I swear I will watch this despicable village burn for all the crimes that they have committed. They must not have a happy life, they don't deserve it. Pain, suffering, agony, grief, these are the things that they deserve'_

Images of a Konoha on fire entered her mind and she smirked maliciously because they were all screaming for help even as she cut them to pieces and burned their loved ones in front of them while they watched. _'Yes, yes'_ Anko started laughing like an insane bloodthirsty beast hell bent on bringing its prey to a beautifully horrifying end.

"Oh hello Anko you look happy did you have a good mission?" asked the gate guard who she instantly decapitated in her mind. The image brought a savage grin to her face that sent shivers down the guard's spine.

"I had a lovely mission and I'm going to enjoy being home after being away for so long"

'_Why does it sound bad when she said it?'_ thought the guard who was about to wet his pants _'damn she looks like a crazy person'_

Anko left him knowing exactly where she was going next _'I wonder what Saki-chan and her family's heart taste like, hmmm oh well I guess I will just have to find out for myself as I pull out pieces of their heart out, I wonder should deep fry her family's heart and feed it to her or maybe I should just give it to her raw. Decisions, decisions'_

She then started skipping like a school girl who just got a kiss from her crush _'Let us kidnap a council member and her family. This is going to be so much fun.'_ If you could see it closely you would have noticed the cursed seal glowing red.

A few miles away Itachi was racing on the ground as fast as could to make it to Konoha in time and in case you are wondering why he was running in the ground at civilian pace well that is because Anko poisoned him. A couple days ago when he woke up from his solider pill induced coma it was to a sight that he won't forget in a hurry. The couple that had taken them in were scattered across the floor of their small cabin with Anko tasting parts of them with a contemplative look on her face like some high class food critic and there were black marks across her face and upper body.

He was ashamed to say that the sight caused him to throw up and faint. When he woke up a day later Anko was standing over him with a sweet smile and a cup of tea, all cleaned up so much so that he thought that he simply had a nightmare.

The tea was delicious and it came with a feast for his hungry stomach. After eating and freshening up into a new set of clothes he decided that he wanted to go outside to have some fresh air before asking Anko what exactly happened during the mission when all of a sudden his eyes started to turn he almost fell on the ground but Anko guided him to the bed that he was already spending too much time in and when he was lying down and about to sleep from what he thought was exhaustion after all there was no way Anko would poison him. She said something that made his blood freeze up and his heart jump,

"The couple was just a test, Anko-chan and I are going to Konoha after all we need to see those lovely civilians who granted me access to my lovely student and of course show them our appreciation, goodbye Itachi"

Forcing his eyes open the last thing he saw was Anko with those black marks across her face and her eyes were glowing yellow with a smile that resembled a snake, his last thought before he went unconscious was _'Orochimaru'_

That was why he was in such a hurry right now because while he didn't fully understand what was going on he knew that Anko was not in her right mind and he needed to help her before she did something that would regret later on, at least he hoped she could regret at least.

'_No damn it I can't think like that' _shaking his head to clear his mind of such thoughts because he refused to believe that his friend had become a sociopath overnight. She was his friend and every cell in his body wanted to find her and keep her safe even if had to protect her from herself he would._ 'I can't lose her I simply can't. I don't have anything without her and Sasuke and it is because of her that I actually started to get closer to my little brother. If I can't keep her safe then how the hell am I supposed to keep Sasuke safe? Kami I need help.'_

Forcing his chakra to move he increased his pace knowing at the back of his mind that he will regret pushing himself this much when all this was over but that was not important right now Anko was. "Kami let me make it in time please let me make it in time" what he would do after he finds her he didn't know but all he wanted to do was find her. He will cross that bridge when he got there but one thing was for sure he will never give up her or the village, there are some good people there after all and maybe if Anko met some of them then she would know that she was not seen as a total disgrace and stain on the village's honour then her attitude would change.

'_So much injustice in a village that is supposed to be one of the most humane villages in the world one would only wonder what it must be like in those villages that are painted in such a negative light. Kari-san is right Konoha does need a complete overhaul fast but if Anko gets her hands on the council members then everything will be in jeopardy. I just hope I can make her see reason.'_

One thing left Itachi at a serious loss though, how did Anko become so bloodthirsty so quickly? I mean yeah he knew about Orochimaru and his experiments and Anko also filled him in on the cursed seal details about how it fed on negative emotions and heightened them, also that it somehow possessed a piece of his soul but how that was possible he didn't know. But only a week had passed and somehow the restraints that were put around the cursed seal had been broken and in that time frame it had also taken over Anko's mind, someone who never wanted anything to do with Orochimaru a week before had completely taken over her and she didn't even resist.

That was what scared him Anko told him that the cursed seal was held back by both her will and the seal that Jiraya had put on it because apparently the cursed seal could not be removed. But now she had given into the seal's influence and now it was controlling her and the villagers worst nightmare was about to come true and if he did not stop her soon then this will go from bad to worse because she would not get the satisfaction that she is looking for and sooner or later she would overdo it and get caught and when that happens the council will see to it that she is killed or banished and the bad thing is that if they kill her then they would be better off because if they banished her then she may return to Orochimaru and that won't end well.

Because Orochimaru will use her for his own gain and if he gets tired of her he will dispose of her and it will do serious damages to her mental well-being and there is no way that he was going to let that happen not if he could help it.

_Back in Konoha_

Now before Anko took Saki from her house she needed to buy some supplies first. So she headed for a weapons store to see an old friend and possibly invite him to the feast later today. Walking in, she noticed that the store was almost empty.

'_Where did all the customers go, awww that means I won't have an audience'_ Anko sighed and was about to come back later maybe after some dango it was 2:00pm after all and she was hungry but before that she wanted to check if the owner was around so that she could get her supplies and have some fun then eat some dango to celebrate.

"Hello anyone here?" asked Anko who was pleased to hear an 'I'm coming' so she smirked and waited.

Kuro had been expecting a lot of things when he went to answer the door: a couple of Genin looking to buy weapons, civilians looking for some extra protection, heck even a hot girl to flirt with. But what he didn't expect was to find Mitirashi Anko at his doorstep. Now he was a trained civilian at best that was probably why he didn't notice her mood or the fact that she was leaking K.I. this is probably why he did what he did.

"Oi you how many times have I told you that your kind is not welcome here. Now leave."

Anko smiled savagely, "Or what?"

"You don't want to piss me off little snake bitch now leave before I throw you out, your used and expired pussy is ruining my floor boards scram"

Naturally Anko did not like that but instead of frowning she started laughing pissing Kuro off that some little bitch was making fun of him so he decided to show her just how serious he was, so he walked over to her and attempted to grab her and fling her out of his store via the window. But like I said he attempted.

SNAP!

Anko had grabbed his knuckles and pushed his lower arm into his body while making sure that his elbow was bent outward. The result was that the lower bone was now protruding from his elbow and his upper arm was poking out his shoulder his wrist on the other hand was pretty much shattered.

Kuro couldn't even scream his right arm was damaged possibly beyond repair and he was losing blood fast but Anko was not done with him yet. The shock had brought him to his knees that was when Anko said "Oh I'm sorry here let me help you" and snapped both bones back into place then lower arm first then the upper one causing Kuro to go wide eyed and let out a silent scream before passing out.

Anko was then extremely disappointed _'awww he is out already? But I was just getting started. Hmm I need to make sure that Saki-chan stays awake while I have my fun but how?'_ suddenly she had a thought of a potion that her Sensei taught her which would be perfect _'I mean it may take a few hours to make but it will be so worth it and this way Kuro-san can join us it is perfect'_

Putting a blood and food pill into Kuro's mouth was a cinch after which she got the things that she would need from his store and then sealed him into a storage scroll along with her supplies. She then flipped the sign to closed and humming all the way passed out the back to go to the Forest of Death were she would find the ingredients that she needed for the potion as well as the venue for the party.

But on the way there she had a thought, _'Why don't I go pick up Saki-chan and put her in a scroll too along with her family that way I won't have to go back and forth'_ inspired by her idea she went to get everything that she would need from the village including a few plates of dango and sealed in all away for later use.

However when she went to get Saki and her family she was once again disappointed to find out that Saki was the only one at home and time was already wasting _'Oh well I can come back for them later who is to say that we can't have two parties?'_ with that she entered Saki's dining room where she was sipping a nice hot cup of tea and knocked her out and then proceeded to put her into a scroll too. Then she takes a sip of the tea and promptly spits it out,

"Yuck that is disgusting" she threw the cup on the floor and sighed deeply at the poor woman's poor taste in tea and then resumes skipping to the Forest of Death.

Now I'm sure you would have guessed by now that putting a living breathing human being into a substandard storage scroll is a bad idea especially if they are civilians and for those of you who don't know just why this is such a bad idea well then let me explain it to you.

The human body civilian or otherwise needs a few things to be given to it on a constant basis or a bad thing happens and they are air and blood. Now what these do is they help in the breaking down of cells and the creation of new ones. This is necessary because human beings are supposed to grow on a cellular level.

Now what the storage seal does is that it outs the cells in stasis form so that they can't grow neither will the dead cells be disposed of and it can definitely not even function at all. Even people who go into coma don't have frozen cells only slow ones but the fundamentals don't change for them which mean that their body can still function only it is going to be remarkably slow that's all.

But putting a living human being in total stasis is hell on earth because every cell and nerve, every brain wave or blood circle will be brought to an abrupt halt and the person will be in total darkness until the stasis is removed in which case depending on the length of time they were in stasis would determine how banged up they will be. Now given how long Saki and Kuro will be in stasis the moment they are released every nerve and cell will be super sensitive making every pain and pleasure they feel ten times worse not to mention the headaches and heart burns that they will get from the long stasis period.

And Anko knew all of this and she wanted them to suffer which would explain why she was taking her sweet time preparing the potion and the party venue.

**Warning: It is about to get worse so again reader discretion is strongly advised if you can't stomach it scroll down to the next notification and read from there. You have been warned. **

_Five hours later_

The preparations for the party were all done in grand style you had everything that you could ever need for a torture party, a table full of sharp and pointy things hell even things that were not pointy but definitely painful and of course the cream de la cream of everything was the serpent's kiss a potion that was very versatile.

To understand the poison better we must go back to how it came to be. Years ago before Orochimaru betrayed her before he betrayed anyone when he was still a loyal Shinobi of Leaf before he learned his lesson and saw Konoha for what it really was he was working on making a potion that would in theory make an injured ninja last a lot longer so that he or she could get medical treatment instead of dying on transit like a lot of them did especially during the war.

The reason it was called the serpent's kiss was because it used poisonous plants and actual venom from a very rare snake to increase the insulin and adrenaline in the body and when mixed with a cocktail of blood and food pills then the poison became a potion that greatly increased the survival chances that the ninjas had, but of course Konoha ruined it by demanding more and more and since the snake that made the poison work was rare it quickly became endangered due to the sheer demand that the poison had. It was the first poison that was actually very sort after but the cost was too much and when Orochimaru refused to make more in other to save the snakes he was treated like a traitor and if not for how important he was he would have been removed from the Shinobi force and the secret forced out of brain by a Yamanaka.

Thankfully they simply couldn't do without him so the issue was forgotten well by everyone except Sensei Anko chuckled as she prepared to remove Kuro from the storage scroll when she remembered the other ways that Orochimaru had taught her of how to use the poison. You see when cobra's venom is applied to the serpent's kiss it not only keeps the injected person alive and it also keeps every nerve sensitive and active it would make the brain register; every pain or ache with a slow intense reaction so if you took the poison and sustained a paper cut you won't get a sharp and fast ending pain you would feel a slow ache that will last for a long time. That wasn't the worst part when applied in an area it makes the blood to stop flowing into that particular area so no blood loss and no mess and that is what she wanted right now.

She went to the table and placed the scroll containing Kuro on top _'This one is for you Sensei'_

When Kuro landed on top of the table he immediately started screaming from pain that seemed to envelope his entire body but a strong K.I. stopped his screams and forced him to look up and then he saw Anko with black marks across her face and her eyes glowing yellow and she was wearing a smile that told him that she was not done with him yet that was when he started pleading

"Please, please, please! I beg of you please let me go please, please swear I will do everything you say please oh please just let me go and I won't tell anyone about this"

Anko had a blank face as she stared at him "but what would happen to my party if I let you go?"

"Please I will do anything please…" Anko placed her index finger on his lips and shushed him up like a concerned mother

"Here let me give you something for the pain"

"Thank you, thank you so much"

"You're welcome"

Kuro thought that the injection she was placing in his arm would actually help and that she had forgiven him and after seeing the tools on a table beside the one he was laying on he was very happy that she had a change of heart, poor Kuro right?

Anko injected him with the serpent's kiss and then all of a sudden every nerve in his damaged arm exploded with pain and the pain made him wish for death, "I thought you were giving me something for the pain!"

"I did" she said it with a straight face and then she brought a power drill, a screw driver with a flat head and a very sharp looking kunai and with an innocent look on her face she asked, "Did you know that there 27 bones in the human arm? I sure as hell never counted before but I have always wanted to know for myself and see my luck, you have a hand and I have the tools to help me find out so let's make this happen"

"No, no, no, no, no, no please, please ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

Anko then used the kunai to remove the bandages from his damaged arm and using the kunai she the slowly removed all the flesh and muscle covering the arm thankfully the poison worked because Kuro wasn't losing that much blood after all the flesh was gone and only the bone remained she looked at Kuro who was still screaming in surprise

"Wow you have great lungs but that was only the beginning isn't this exciting? Well I mean I get to find out for real if we have 27 bones in our arm now hold still this is for science after all"

She then used the power drill to separate all the joints that she saw and break the bones into pieces while using the screw driver she plucked out all the bones one by one and while she did all of this none of Kuro's nerves had been touched so he could feel everything by the end of it all Kuro was fading but Anko wouldn't have any of that so she gave him another cocktail of her special drug only this time in his other arm.

"I was so clumsy before but that was good practice sorry about your arm though I will try to make sure that I get it right this time because now instead of using a power drill I have going to use a pair a scissors. Now I know what you are wondering how the hell is a pair of scissors going to break bone well that is why I will be adding my fire affinity to them so that the bones will be made softer oh and I wasted too much time removing your flesh all at once so this time I'm going to use acid to make the removal even faster that is why I gave you a double dose of the serpent's kiss so that you can be awake and alert to it all. Oh my you have no idea what the serpent's kiss is do you well why don't I tell you"

And that is what she did she talked to Kuro while she used acid to melt his flesh and a fire-powered scissors to break and pick apart his bones and just like last time she avoided his nerves completely and when the whole thing was over she decided to use all of her instruments to pick Kuro apart until he died not from blood loss or pain but from having nothing left to live by because Anko had taken a fork and knife to his heart. By the time she was done she was soaked with blood and a tiny part of her that was still her, a part that had been so horrified at what she had become to even move a muscle started screaming for Orochimaru to stop but all he said was "Don't stop the fun" and then he started laughing.

This was the scene that Itachi walked in on and he did not know what to do he could only stand there shocked, the only reason he was able to find Anko in the first place was because he knew her chakra inside out and he had followed it around the village until it led him to the Forest of Death and when he thought that he was prepared for anything he came across this and he was left to wonder if there was an Anko there anymore or if she was really gone for good and even if she wasn't how was he supposed to deal with this how?

**Dante: Alright the bad stuff is over I think you guys can look now.**

Have you ever thought you knew someone so well someone who was so close to you only to wake up one morning and realize that they were not what you thought they were? That even though they look the same and smell the same and have all the qualities that they had before all you see when you look at them is someone else?

In Itachi's case it was literally someone else and every one of his Shinobi instincts were telling him that Anko had become a problem to the safety of the village evidence was the mess on the table in front of her that looked like a person's body parts. He should put her down now if not because of the crimes that she had committed then because one of Konoha's top missing Nin had completely taken over her body and that was because according to the facts she let him do it and that was considered treason.

But how was he supposed to kill Anko, his best friend the one that mended his relationship with his little brother Sasuke? The one that gave him the courage and drive to stop being a puppet for his clan and start being him, how was he supposed to kill her knowing that he would be doing the exact same thing that the villagers had been doing to her since Orochimaru betrayed her? Condemning her without hearing her side of the story because he could paint this any which way that he wanted to but at the end of the day he was betraying his best friend, he was giving up on her.

Without his consent tears started falling down his cheeks because he also knew that if he didn't stop her then she would prove the villagers right that she was a loyal slave of Orochimaru hell bent on destroying the village and instead of seeing their fault there, they would be able to execute her with her a clear conscience knowing that they were right, _'Dear Kami how could I have let this happen'_

He didn't know when he dropped on all fours sobbing because of his fallen friend that he had lost because he couldn't keep her safe. When she needed him the most he was in a coma and she was probably so scared and lonely that she didn't even realize when she started to depend on the cursed seal just so that she won't have to be scared anymore. But how could he save her how could he do anything but kill her? At least that way she would die at the hands of someone who cares about her but the thought of killing her was killing him and he knew that if he killed someone whom he had come to love this much then his entire life would never be the same. But the thought that really broke his heart was if he could give up on Anko so quickly then how long will it take him to give up on Sasuke would he have to kill his little brother too?

Anko heard something behind her and when she turned around she saw Itachi on his knees weeping and her heart shattered. The cursed seal on the other hand was so happy for the sight because if it could remove Itachi from Anko's life then she would no doubt give up her humanity and her body and soul will be its to mould anyway it saw fit and of course when it was done with the civilian council it will return to Orochimaru and together they will plot the destruction of Konohagakure no Sato.

'_What have I done?'_ thought Anko _'Oh Itachi I'm so sorry but I wasn't strong enough I was so scared that those people would come get me that when I remembered how much power the cursed seal gives its victims I couldn't resist the extra protection but now I know I was foolish you had always protected me and kept me safe even when you didn't have to. I know that I need to die for what I have done but please forgive me please'_ then inside of her she started weeping too

Rising up his head Itachi looked at Anko's face, something that he was always so happy to see and now one vile disgusting bastard who couldn't take a hint had turned that beautiful face into that of a monster and all of Itachi's agony and grief boiled into white hot rage.

"You" one simple word carried a whole speech,

The look on his face startled CS [cursed seal] so badly that it stumbled backwards in shock, it thought that Itachi would be an easy kill because of the state he was in but now he looked ready to kill and with his Sharingan blazing like that with the tomoes spinning so rapidly it actually felt fear for its life.

"You took the girl who means the world to me and turned her into a monster with no remorse or guilt, you made her into what the villagers think of her. You have justified their paranoia and stupidity by making her into what she is not. You took advantage of her when she was scared and you took over her body and you have successfully broken her to the point where she doesn't even possess the will to fight back. You broke my best friend and while she doesn't have the will to fight back I do"

The scary part was while he was talking Itachi didn't raise his voice an inch but the sheer amount of rage and hatred embedded into his words were enough to force CS to a tree were it was shaking like a leaf, "What are you going to do, you wouldn't hurt your best friend right?"

Itachi zipped to its location and it screamed then he bent down and spoke in a voice that chilled the cursed seal to its ink with a dark background and an angry looking Sharingan eye he said,

"I know that you are in there but I'm sure you know how skilled the Sharingan is at mind techniques"

"Please don't hurt me I am just a messenger Orochimaru is the one you want"

"And yet you are the one inside my best friend and you are also the one that has turned her into this thing not Orochimaru you"

"What are you going to do to me knowing that I am tied to Anko and anything that happens to me will also happen to her" the knowledge gave the cursed seal some confidence at least he won't intentionally hurt his best friend right but the smile that spread across Itachi's face sent that renewed confidence down the drain

"Oh you have no idea what I can do right now Anko's mind is submissive to yours and yours is tied to Orochimaru and I have all the control over my Sharingan that I need to put you in a world of hurt and pain so strong your master is going to need stitches and while I do that because Anko's mind is so far away from yours she is shielded. Oh and don't try to switch now I already have a lock on your mind since it is different from Anko's own so even if you return to the dark recesses of her mind I will find you"

At that point CS started to feel its mind burning slowly and heavily for a minute before it passed but it was enough to tell it that Itachi was serious with his threat and its fear went through the roof because he was right when he said that his and Orochimaru's mind were linked and if he did not stop Itachi then Orochimaru would cancel the link and then all the pain will be its to bear. As it was considering this it felt a new kind of pain it felt like someone was taking a toothpick to its eyes that didn't last for 10 seconds before it felt Orochimaru disconnect his mind from it. At that point it knew it was finished unless it did something

"Wait stop please just stop what do I have to do?"

"Nothing because I am not going to stop until you are nothing but a wasted piece of chakra because I can't remove you from Anko's mind and body so I will instead focus on killing you to the point where you will be too weak to even move and I will continue to do this continually until I find a way to remove you completely so let's continue shall we?"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait you can remove me"

"Go on"

"I am just a prototype and I can be removed all you have to do is destroy the seal" now it wasn't lying but it was greatly exaggerating because the only way to kill it and remove it from Anko's body was to destroy the centre aka it then the seal will collapse but destroying the seal would kill both it and Anko and that is what it wanted

"I see so that is what you want"

"What?"

Itachi smirked "didn't anyone tell you about the Sharingan's psychic powers"

CS lost all colour in its face when Itachi said that _'oh no'_

"Oh yes goodbye now" and with that Itachi used half of his chakra capacity to destroy the centre and he watched in amazement as the yellow eyes turned brown and the black marks vanish and he looked as Anko blinked up at him in shock and fear and he knew what she wanted to hear "you are my best friend and I care about you and I forgive you I know what happened on the mission from your memories and I promise you that I will keep you safe I just hope that you can forgive me for falling to be there for you this time"

Anko grabbed him and sobbed into his shoulders saying thank you over and over again _'Thank you Kami I have her.'_

After crying herself to sleep Itachi created a clone to return Saki back her house and report the mission specs and only the mission specs to the Hokage and hope Anko gets promoted and also to report the entire story to Kari while he carried her home. When they entered into her apartment he cleaned her up making sure to not look at her sensitive parts then he had a clone dress her for bed and give her something to drink while he had a shower and changed as well _'thank God for storage scrolls'_

However when he took her back from the clone his other clone dispelled informing him that the Hokage was pissed and wanted to see them both tomorrow and Kari promised to keep watching Sasuke until this all blows over. He decided to sleep on the couch but first he needed to put Anko in bed but when he did and tried to remove his hands she held him in a vice grip and whenever he tried to move she twisted it so he decided to lay next to her only for Anko to curl up in his arms and the scary part was that he liked it

'_Is this how friends feel?'_ shaking his head he decided he didn't care about the sleeping arrangements Anko was his friend and nothing else and with that thought he went to sleep.

_The next day_

Anko had had such a full week; she was nearly killed was possessed by an evil seal and committed manslaughter and kidnapping also she had the seal that been the bane of her existence removed and despite the fact that Itachi had every right to hate her or at least never fully trust her again he didn't. Instead he forgave her and even asked her to forgive him for not being there for her when she needed him the most. But the real kicker was that he still loved her when she heard all that he said to the cursed seal on her behalf her heart soared and ached at the same time.

She woke up that morning to a feeling that she had come to love; safe in Itachi's strong arms. The truth was that she didn't deserve someone like him he had cured her of a seal that no one else could beat. He had cared for her even after seeing her in her darkest moment, he had defended her, loved her and as she woke up she noticed that she was clean and in new clothes and instead of feeling used or angry she started crying and she held this angel closer to her not knowing how to repay him for loving her even when she didn't deserve it.

Itachi woke up to the feeling of his chest getting wet and when he came to he realized that Anko had woken up and she was crying her eyes out. He didn't know what caused it so he did what he could do and that was pull her close to him and start stroking her hair, she always loved it when he did that.

After a while she calmed down and he asked her what happened only to hear something that broke his heart, in Anko's mind she was a bad influence in his life and he would be better off without her destroying whatever happiness he had after all she was the one who caused him to fall to his knees in tears last night it was time to do the right thing

"I don't think we should keep being friends anymore I don't think that this is going to work out"

Itachi didn't know what to think he had no clue where this is coming from but he knew that his heart couldn't take it, "Why? Did I do something wrong?"

Anko had to force down the tears that were threatening to break free she knew that she would cry forever once he left but she couldn't even bring herself to remove her arms from him because even though she was trying to separate him from her Itachi was still her greatest source of strength but the pain that she could hear in his voice was ripping her to shreds

"No you did not do anything wrong I just don't want to be friends with you anymore okay?"

"Look me in my eyes and say that"

Anko knew that if she looked into his perceptive eyes then he would know that she was lying through her teeth and then he would never leave so she left his arms and closing her eyes sat up straight on the bed with her back on the wall then she took a deep breath "I don't have to do anything I just want you to leave and never come back is that so hard to believe?"

"Yes because I saw your eyes last night Anko and I know you and this isn't you"

"Well then I guess you don't know me as well as you thought you did now please leave"

Now he knew something was very wrong Anko was not polite about anything in her life hell she considered manners to be a waste of her precious time so he sat up straight as well and stared at her he had a hunch as to why she was doing this but he needed to be sure so he put his arm around her and turned on his Sharingan and then he slowly started pulling her close to him and she did not resist almost like she was getting the last bit of comfort that she could before he left so quickly he put her in between his legs and she instantly started resisting and forcing her way out but he held her close and after a few minutes she stopped struggling and started crying into him

"Why won't you go please you will be so much better without me in your life so what are you still doing here?"

Now he knew what was really going on "I am not a saint Anko I have my sins too but you taught me that the true value of someone is only known when he goes through hell and comes out stronger and better. I know you're hurt and that you think that I am better off without you but I am not. I need you in my life Anko I don't think I can survive without you and I am not going to let you push me away"

"Why do you have to be so goddamn stubborn huh? Can't you see that it is better this way?"

"Actually I can't see. All I can see is the girl I love pushing me away because she doesn't think that she deserves to be happy well you are very wrong because you deserve to be happy Anko and I am not going to stop until you are I don't care what anyone thinks of you or us I am not leaving you I promise"

Anko actually smiled "The girl you love? You are getting soft Tachi-chan" she then looked right him for the first time that morning into those hypnotic red eyes "I'm never getting rid of you am I?"

Itachi smirked "Well you can try but no you are not so the real question is what are going to do about it?"

Anko smiled and placed her head on his shoulder "I'm going to stop trying to push the guy I love out of my life"

Itachi felt his heart burst from her confession and then he wrapped his hands around her and placed his cheek on her forehead when she made a comment that made him laugh "I am hungry"

After getting dressed and having breakfast the duo made their way to the Hokage's office. Knocking on the door they heard a 'come in' and entered when they noticed that it was the Hokage and Kari that were present Kari then discreetly winked at Itachi and he relaxed

"You sent for us Hokage-sama?"

"Yes Anko I did first of all I am so sorry for what happened to you the reason I called you here was that I called a council meeting and I want you to join me it is time I explained to some people that this is my village not theirs and they are advisors not controllers. Will you come with me?"

She looked at Itachi and he gave her a nod so she turned back to the Hokage "Hai Hokage-sama"

"Good then let's go"

When they left Kari faced Itachi and smirked mischievously at him "So I see that your girlfriend is okay"

Itachi instantly turned a bright shade of red "she's my friend not my girlfriend we are too young for that"

"Oh so where did you sleep last night?"

"With her in bed" after saying it he knew that he shouldn't have "It wasn't like that I swear"

"Hmmm so what is it like then?"

"We are friends nothing more"

"And yet you guys slept in the same bed and looking at the two of you, you guys are way too comfortable being close to one another"

"That is what friendship is isn't it?"

Kari shook her head and looked at Itachi "Listen to me Itachi-kun I have eyes and I know that there is a strong bond between the two of you and it isn't friendship and if you don't want to lose her you better find out exactly what Anko means to you before she finds someone else and as for your age you are both Shinobi age doesn't apply"

"But…"

"Promise me that you will think about it okay? I have to go back to the boys"

"I will"

"Good see you later"

_At the council room_

The council members were getting impatient waiting for the Hokage and were about to start leaving when he walked in looking very pissed off and then he sat down on his seat and faced Nara Shikaku

"Now I have something to tell all of you but before that Nara-san please enlighten me on what this council is supposed to do"

"Troublesome well the council is supposed to be an advisory body to the Hokage and they are also in-charge of some minor parts of the village thus taking part of the Hokages' workload freeing him up for more important things"

"Thank you Nara-san Saki-san please tell me what is the duties that your side of the council is responsible for"

"We are in-charge of the lives of the civilians" she said it so arrogantly that Hiruzen nearly attacked her

"I see. Nara-san one last question, can the council falter?"

"Yes"

"Good and on that note Saki you and the rest of the council are hereby under arrest"

"What you can't do that"

K.I. exploded in the room that sent the civilians to the ground and the Shinobis to sweat heavily, the God of Shinobi was pissed and it radiated throughout the room like a violent predator just waiting to strike.

"Would you care to repeat that?"

Saki could barely breathe let alone talk

"I am disbanding the council and the Elders and I am creating a brand new one and if anyone has a problem with that then I invoke the Hokage's challenge will anyone challenge my authority?"

The Hokage's challenge was when a person fights the Hokage and if he wins then the Hokage would hand over authority for whatever was on the table without resistance and the only person who had a chance against the Hokage in the entire room was Danzo and he would have to pull out all stops and there was no way that he was going to do that

"Excellent because if anyone came forward I would have killed you oh and side note Anko Mitirashi is now a Chunin, council closed"

The Sandaime then walked out with Anko who was standing at the door and right now she was starting to realize why they called the Hokage the God of Shinobi _'damn I hope I never piss him off'_

When they got back to the office he handed her a Chunin vest and assigned her and Itachi to the same team alongside Kurenai and then gave them a month off duty. Things were starting to look up but Itachi still had a lot of things to think about and he was so confused that he was not sure that he will be able to.

Meanwhile

Kakashi was home a changed man with a new agenda and also a new friend that he couldn't wait to inform the Hokage about. However when he entered the Hokage's office via the window and saw how pissed he was he almost left but then the Sandaime turned to face him and then after staring into his eyes like a scanner he then smiled like a fox and his smile made Kakashi very fearful for his life

"Ah Kakashi-kun perfect timing Kukukuku"

Kakashi did not like where the Sandaime's tone was going it made it seem like he was going to regret setting foot in his office. _''Damn I have to have offended somebody up there who is probably laughing at me right now, although maybe it's not as bad as I think'_

"Why is it perfect timing Sandaime-sama? I mean surely I did not come on any important dates right?"

The freaky thing was that the Sandaime Hokage just kept on grinning like a cat, a very happy cat. "No Kakashi-kun you didn't come on any important dates as a matter of fact nothing special is happening this week well nothing of great importance"

"Then why does your freaking smile and tone tell me that I just walked in to a mine field and I'm about to be blown sky high and that there is no way out?"

"Hmm it appears your commander was right when he said you have very sharp instincts and where do you think you're going?"

At this point Kakashi was halfway out the window when the Sandaime caught him "Um I was actually on my way to see Gai I promised him the second I came back from my leave I would come find him so that we could engage in some bonding activities to you know help me regain some of my lost emotions I could really use a friend right now."

"Really Kakashi you want to hang out with Gai of your own freewill? Wow I'm so proud of you"

Smiling Kakashi put all his effort into jumping out the window only to find himself tied securely to a chair placed in front of the Sandaime's desk with the Hokage smoking from his signature pipe like nothing happened, "How…"

"Oh Kakashi-kun I thought you were going to see your friend what happened?"

He knew he was doomed anyway but he decided to try his luck one more time maybe just maybe the Sandaime will let him escape and if that happens then he will make sure never to get stuck in this position ever again and since his opponent was the Professor his best bet was to move to Kiri because he would prefer to go through a violent civil war than be here right now,_ 'here goes nothing'_

"Well you see Sandaime-sama I appear to have gotten myself into a rather precarious situation here"

"Hmm yes I can see that would you like me to assist you there after all one should not waste someone's time it is quiet rude"

Kakashi gulped "Um maybe you don't have to…"

"Katon: Gokayuu no jutsu"

The impressively big ball of flame grew and reached an inch in front of Kakashi's face despite it being launched from three feet away from him and the fact that a seriously hot fireball was an inch from his face was not the worst part not by a long shot. The scariest part was the fact that the fireball shrunk and hovered over a very sensitive place a place that the Sun definitely did not shine then as if it couldn't get any worse the fireball touched him then vanished.

"Whoops it seems my aim is a little off would you like to try again perhaps with a different element say lightning?"

Kakashi vigorously shook his head in fear "No thanks I'm good I'll just stay here"

"Oh okay well since you are here there is actually a little matter that I wanted to discuss with you that is if you have the time?"

"Of course anything you wish to discuss I am all hears"

"Excellent oh right the ropes here let me help you with that" using a senbon the Hokage cut the entire rope and freed Kakashi "there that should be much better how did you ever get into those ropes anyway there is no one in this room aside from us?"

'_By pissing off a seriously strong ninja thank Kami there are no witnesses I would have never heard the end of it but joke aside this sounds really serious I wonder what could have gone so wrong since I left?'_

Putting on a serious face that once again reminded the Hokage why despite his age Kakashi was the youngest and perhaps the best ANBU captain in the village at the moment and the fact that he seemed to have regained some of his lost humanity made him perfect for what the Sandaime had planned, _'if Danzo thinks that he is the only one who can play the game of chess he is about to be reminded just why I am called the God of Shinobi'_

"We have a serious problem on our hands Kakashi-kun and this kind of problem can only be solved by family and before I give you the low down I need to know one thing; how do you feel about Naruto?"

Now that was a subject that before his vacation he would have known exactly what his stand was but after getting his ass handed to him he wouldn't say that he had a complete change of heart but he was at least willing to give the Kyuubi sorry Naruto the benefit of the doubt, but first there was something that he wanted to confirm

"First of all Hokage-sama, is Minato and Kushina's son really dead or is that just a cover up?"

Sarutobi's first response was to lie and say yes the son died but he felt that if he wanted to get Kakashi on his side completely he would have to tell him the whole truth no more cover ups

'_Damn who knew the truth could be so hard to tell but it is necessary and if I don't like his response then Konoha will lose another ANBU captain an unfortunate incident but a necessary one. Besides I rather tell him myself than have him find out that will not end well at least this way it is in an environment I can control'_

"Yes Minato and Kushina's son is alive and well"

Kakashi would have been enraged but he already suspected that was the truth but at least the Hokage told him the truth, "What else are you not telling me?"

"Well you may not like this but yes there are things that I have kept from you because I felt that it would be too much for you to handle and that you might snap and do something drastic and I cannot afford that not then not now."

"I know I was stupid back then. I was so angry and scared and too much of a coward to accept responsibility and move on but I'm better now I promise I can take it"

The Sandaime took a deep breath and looked deep into Kakashi's eyes and then in the blink of an eye shot forward with a kunai that Kakashi barely blocked and with that same speed returned to his seat and smirked

"Did that have a point?"

"One thing you will learn as you grow as a Shinobi is that you can read a person's heart when you cross blades with them and I like what I see"

"Wait is that something a lot of people know?"

"Well yes I suppose it is why do you ask?"

"Nothing" _'so that's how she knew'_

"Alright well the whole truth about the Kyuubi's attack is known to only three people me, Kari-san and Jiraya so I'm sure you can guess just what the level of clearance this secret carries and the punishment for anyone that leaks it out?"

Kakashi immediately sat up straight "Hai Hokage-sama"

"Good the first thing you need to know is; the Kyuubi didn't just come out of nowhere it was released. Please hold your questions till the end. When we first encountered the Kyuubi during the battle between the First and Madara it was still a fresh entity nobody had really seen anything like it before; Madara's greatest weapon. The story says that the First used his Wood Release Bloodline limit to supress and thus defeat the mystical beast but that is not the whole story.

The First Hokage found out the hard way what we know now; you can't kill a bijuu hell you can barely supress it especially a beast as powerful as the Kyuubi. Thankfully the First's wife was there with him with an answer on how to solve the big problem; jinchuriki. Yes Kakashi the First Hokage's wife was a jinchuriki and the only reason she was able to handle the strain of being the container of the Kyuubi was because she was an Uzumaki which made us understand that only an Uzumaki can safely handle being the Kyuubi's jinchuriki.

However we couldn't tell the people the truth because of the backlash so we kept it a secret but that didn't stop what we feared from happening; other villages turned the other bijuus into weapons by locking them inside people and thus the Shinobi world gained a new elite weapon but it wasn't without its costs the new weapons couldn't control the hatred and negative emotions that came with this burden and so few of them snapped. After that seals for jinchuriki got better but treatment of them got worse to the point where an innocent child can be treated like the devil incarnate all because of something he had no say in.

But back to Mito-san she grew old and needed to pass the burden to someone else before she died and Konoha was faced with the threat of an angry bijuu. That was the reason the Uzumaki heiress was brought to Konoha. Yes Kakashi none of the reasons she told you where true she came to save us by sacrificing her life and freedom to protect this village and just like in her predecessor's case no one knew save a few. But disaster was on its way because you see the seal on a female jinchuriki weakens during childbirth so in order to prevent any slip ups Minato, my wife and a team of trust worthy people were sent to assist in the birthing.

But despite our careful planning someone broke through and assassinated everyone including my wife and kidnapped a tired Kushina, Minato couldn't save both her and his son so he put his son in a safe location and then went for Kushina but by then it was too late; the Kyuubi was free and the nightmare had begun. After fighting off the person who released the Kyuubi Minato and Kushina gave their lives to seal the beast into a new vessel, a new-born child not more than a few hours old. Yes Kakashi Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto is the new Kyuubi jinchuriki and Minato and Kushina's son unfortunately the sealing couldn't be covered up and so I was forced to tell the people the truth hoping that they would honour Minato's wishes and see the boy as a hero but I think we both know what happened.

That Kakashi is the whole truth. In order to protect him I put up several laws like the one preventing people from telling their young ones what really happened and instead tell them that the Yondaime gave his life to kill the Kyuubi but while they didn't tell them they made their children hate him and despise him so the law that was supposed to give the young boy a semi-normal childhood ended up ruining his life and the holiday that I put up to honour our fallen comrades became a fox hunting season. That boy has suffered at the hands of this village from the day he was born"

Taking a deep calming breath the Sandaime sat back to see how Kakashi will take this news and depending on his response he will then decide what to do about the young ANBU captain.

Kakashi on the other hand could not even think, what do you say when you find out that you are directly responsible for the suffering of the son of the people who saved his life from loneliness. _'Dear Kami all this time I have given poor Naruto such a horrible time for doing two things being born and saving his village just like his parents. I have failed once again, I couldn't save my parents, I couldn't save Obito I was not able to save Rin, I could barely help Sensei and now I have caused agony to a child I swore to protect with my life. Dear Kami what have I done.'_

Sarutobi could see the path that Kakashi was walking it was the same path that he took every time something bad happens and while he and Minato had agreed that when he gets like that the best thing to do is let him be and allow Kakashi to be Kakashi but right now he did not have the time for another one of Kakashi's episodes he needed him to be ready because there was work to be done and he needed to know his stand now.

"Listen Kakashi I know what you are thinking right now and I know exactly how you feel"

"How can you Hokage-sama how can you know anything about how I feel right now? You did well by Naruto I did not. While you tried to help…"

"Keyword there is tried I tried and failed. I put my trust in a traumatised people that I thought could see past their pain and fear and trust the people that are leading them, people who gave their life for them. I tried with rules but the people just went around them, they always found a way around it."

The Sandaime put his elbows on the table and rested his head on his hands and with tired but determined eyes looked directly into Kakashi's eyes, "listen to me we have all messed up you hated Naruto, Jiraya ran away in guilt and shame, Kari hid away because she thought that I could handle it by myself delegating a responsibility that should have been shared and I? I played the tired old man and barely did enough for a young boy who desperately needed my help. We all have failed Naruto but right now I don't need a pity party and neither does he.

I need someone who can look me in the eye past all the bullshit and diplomacy. I need someone who can stop being an easy person who simply takes things lying down. I need warriors not at the field but warriors at heart because Kakashi we are at war and we need to be ready because our enemies are not just outside anymore but there are in our backyard and they are serious about taking us out. So Kakashi are you in or not?"

Bowing his head and closing his eyes Kakashi focused on hearing everything the Hokage had just said and then decide what he was going to do about it. He understood where the Hokage was coming from but he did not think that he could do what the man was asking of him I mean how could he call himself a warrior when he can't do the first thing every warrior is supposed to do; protect those close to him. He was a bad luck charm period Naruto would be better never having anything to do with him and he could always watch him from a distance but he was not going to do anything, he didn't deserve it.

He raised his head with the intention of telling the Hokage his decision when the voice of Obito resounded in his head _'Coward'_. One word was all it took to stop Kakashi in his tracks, made him remember why Obito was in his head instead of being alive right now. Years ago he was faced with a choice; complete the mission or save his teammate. Without Obito there he would have completed the mission and left Rin to her fate after all saving people at the risk of the mission was what got his father killed.

'_I think the white fang was a hero'_ that was the reason he turned around to help the class dead last and his friend; the thought that someone believed his father was a hero instead of a traitor. _'What will Obito think if he saw what I am about to do? How can I face the boy who befriended me when I wanted to be left alone? The one who gave me his eye for a present? Obito what will you think?'_

But even as he was asking these questions he knew exactly what Obito's reply would be and it was for that reason that once again he was going to go against what he believed to be right because of a dead last's opinion. _'You better appreciate this and you sure as hell better watch out for me okay Obito? I can't do this on my own so if I have to do this then I need to know that you have my back' _he took the itch in Obito's eye as an answer _'Alright buddy let's do this together'_

Taking a deep breath Kakashi raised his head and looked directly into the Hokage's eye with a level of determination that the Sandaime had not seen Kakashi display in a long while and said the words that he wanted to hear "I accept Hokage-sama you can count me in"

"Excellent Kakashi it's good to have you on board"

"Thanks for trusting me Hokage-sama I promise I won't let you down"

"I know you won't. Now we need to get to the real issue at hand"

"Hai you said that we have enemies in our backyard right? Well who could they possibly be and do the Elders know about this?"

"That is the problem Kakashi, our enemies are the Elders, the civilian council, the Uchiha clan and of course my old friend Danzo"

With each mention Kakashi's eyebrow went up and his jaw went down so now his eyebrow had shot past his headband and his jaw was hanging loosely around his neck, "Damn how, how do we deal with that? And moreover how did it get to this level?"

"Because I allowed it"

"What do you mean Hokage-sama surely you didn't start this?"

"I may not have started it Kakashi but I saw it happening and I simply didn't give it the attention it needed because I was scared of rocking the boat, we had just come out of a war and we had just barely survived a bijuu attack the last thing we needed was division among us but in trying to play the peacemaker I created the very thing that I was trying to avoid and at that point I decided to just let it all be because once again I was too worried about diplomacy and popularity and not about doing the right thing."

"But I thought diplomacy and politics came with the job?"

"And you will be right when you say that but there is a time for politics and there is a time for a more cutthroat system because sometimes you need to cut an arm to save the body and the Hokage must be able to do just what he needs to do to save the village"

"But just how did it get to this level I mean how the hell did the Elders become a threat not to mention the Uchiha clan?" the mention of the Uchiha clan had Kakashi's full attention because that was Obito's clan and the clan heirs were Obito's cousins and he did not want to think about what will happen if the entire clan became a liability I mean that will mean either a civil war or total elimination and he refused to consider either because he will not be able to handle that kind of strain on his conscience I mean how will he ever be able to face Obito if he couldn't save his clan.

Sarutobi lowered his eyes "The Kyuubi happened"

"What does a ten story sized fox inside a five year old boy have to do with this?"

"Danzo and the Elders are of the opinion that Naruto should be trained into being the village's secret weapon and if Danzo has his way he will use this new weapon to start a war and dominate the Shinobi world with Konoha as the leading nation. You see Danzo loves Konoha dearly that is why the Elders are so taken with him but the main attraction Danzo has is that he is willing to do anything I mean anything not for the people of Konoha but for the name and territory Konoha.

He will kill his student, sacrifice his son, upgrade his subordinate by forcing them to undergo severe training, he also is of the opinion that Shinobis are supposed to not have any emotions as that will make them liabilities in the field and then unable to follow orders properly or complete their mission. It is for that reason that he created the ROOT; an organisation that answers directly to Danzo and only Danzo.

He trained his own ANBU and uses them to do missions that are beneficial to Konoha but if anyone ever found out then our reputation as a humane village will be destroyed. I let it go on because I felt that stopping him will just be unnecessary, that is until he had spies in my ANBU and then he started his campaign for Hokage by presenting me to the Elders as a tired old man who has lost his edge and how he was the right thing for the village, the Kyuubi jinchuriki simply added fuel to fire and he is desperate to have Naruto under his thumb after which I won't be surprised if he tries to either kill me or discredit me completely to the entire village so that not only can he remove me he can also remove a notion that he considers the bane of his existence; the Will Of Fire.

So I'm sure you can't guess why the civilian council has also become a liability that can also be attributed to the Kyuubi attack. After the attack the village was in shambles we had lost so many good people including my wife and in my grief I gave the civilian council more power than necessary under the excuse that I needed them to be more efficient in order to help me make Konoha whole again I handed over power to control things that usually came to my desk and of course by the time Konoha was on the right track towards a better future they refused to give back their power and I was too much of a coward to demand for it back"

"All that's good and all but I fail to see just how the Uchiha clan comes into play, I mean as far as I know nothing new as happened to them in decades?"

"Well you know Uchiha Madara and the things that he did right?"

"Yes but what does that have to do with this?"

"Everything, the Second Hokage relegated them to a police department and didn't trust them with anything and when I came into power I didn't do anything to stop it I just went with the flow because I had a war to handle basically I had better things to do than the treatment of a clan. When the Kyuubi struck a lot of people remembered that the first time the Kyuubi was here an Uchiha was involved and so the Uchiha clan became the prime suspect behind the Kyuubi attack and that was the last straw."

"But hold up a minute the clan isn't exactly friendly heck they are the most hated clan in the village not because of some century old story but because they are absolute dicks, they are hateful, arrogant, jealous, vengeful and downright mean"

"Well you try telling that to a clan with an ego bigger than the Hokage Mountain and abilities that make it easy for them to copy anything they see and trust me Kakashi that clan has seen a lot. They are a noble clan for a reason"

"So what do you plan on doing about all the problems that you just shared with me? Because from where I'm standing it doesn't look like there is a way out of this."

"Well that's where you are wrong kid, there is a way out of this but it will require some serious work in order for us to pull it off"

"And what do you need me to do? I mean this looks like something meant for an official who is not in ANBU unless we are talking assassinations?"

"No we are not, at least not yet. The first two important things that we need to do are remove at least half of the civilian's power and also give the Uchiha clan some recognition that will stroke their egos and give us the time to calm them down. However none of this new changes can be made by me well not publicly of course because we are going to also remove the Elders from place that way with both those set of people gone the council can be allowed to take a more civilized pace and then we can make some changes. But first I want to know just how many people knew about your hatred for Naruto among the higher ups I mean?"

"A few of them knew and now that I think about it the Uchiha clan asked me to monitor Naruto and report back to them I'm going have to tell them that I am no longer interested in doing that"

"No this is exactly what we need to turn this around"

"Huh? I thought you were trying to help Naruto and the village how does me hating one and being indifferent to the other help?"

"Because that is exactly what we need you to be"

The Sandaime said that with such enthusiasm that Kakashi started to believe that he had finally gone senile, he knew that there was a running bet in the ANBU HQ about how long it will be before the Third becomes senile and it seemed the day has finally come

"You know I can have you arrested for questioning my mental capacities right?"

"Uh no I wasn't I was just thinking about how innovative you have become age really is our best colour did you know that? Because I didn't" _'How the hell did he know?'_

"Nice save now about the plan put yourself in the council's shoes if someone with the personalities you mentioned became Hokage what will happen?"

"Ah I see it will give them free rein to do as they please because he won't care… wait a damn minute you want to make _me_ Hokage! Have you lost your mind?!"

"I thought you were willing to do whatever it takes to help Naruto?"

"Well yes but there is no way that you can make me Hokage I mean I can't handle that it will not end well"

"Exactly my point"

"I see so you have gone senile well then let me make this easy for you to understand I am not going to become Hokage I won't do it not for you not for Naruto and certainly not because of some crazy plan that you hatched in that loopy head of yours"

"Are you done?"

"Yes my answer is no"

"I won't be making you Hokage permanently just until you implement the laws and rules that I want you to and then I will remove you and announce my joy at seeing the way you left things and how much I will like to keep them that way, in order words all the laws that you made I can then not only implement I can fully see them through"

"But why don't you implement the laws yourself instead of going through the trouble of bringing me into the scene?"

"Simple I need the council and the Elders to let their guard for a moment and after the meeting that we had this morning they will be on high alert and then if we don't act fast they will form alliances among themselves with the sole purpose of destroying me so that they can be free to do whatever they want and that is the kind of break that Danzo will be joyous to see happen"

"A happy Danzo now that's a scary thought, so if I'm getting this right you want me to implement laws that you thought of in your place as temporary Hokage because it will be easier for the laws to be made if they are made by someone the council believes to be in their best interest?"

"Indeed it will also go a lot smoother since the Elders will not consider you a threat to their plans and thus won't bat an eyelash at you until it is too late"

"First of I don't think those people should be batting eyelashes at anyone and second where will you be while all this is going on?"

"On vacation where they will never believe that I was ever a part of the things that you will put into place"

"So let me get this straight while I am up to my neck in council meetings and paperwork you will be on a beach somewhere sipping iced tea and enjoying life?"

"Pretty much yeah"

"Well that sucks then who am I supposed to go to for advice and such?"

"Yourself so you better pay attention to the plan so that you don't screw it up, because for this to work perfectly it has to be done in a precise order otherwise minds like Danzo will know something doesn't add up somewhere and the last thing we need is a suspicious Danzo"

"How do I know all this wasn't just engineered by you to take a vacation?"

"You don't"

"Perfect" Kakashi sighs deeply "okay so what is the plan?"

"Well don't look so glum"

"I am not glum"

"Well you look glum"

"Okay I am glum"

"Why so glum?"

"Can we stop saying glum?"

"Why so glum…py"

Kakashi groans "you take pleasure in giving me a headache don't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about"

Silence

"So the plan"

"Oh that's right sorry got carried away there. Now I want you to listen to me very carefully okay the future of the village is riding on this"

"I'm listening Hokage-sama"

"Good. The first thing that I want you to do is to know exactly what you should never ever do"

"O kay"

"Never under any circumstances look Danzo in the eye I don't care what bullshit you have to spew I don't care how you do it just make sure to avoid looking Danzo in the eye because he will read you like a book and the whole plan goes straight to hell and we only have one shot at this if you miss then things will become a whole lot harder for us so please above everything else Hatake Kakashi; don't miss"

"I won't Hokage-sama" _'damn he looks serious'_

"Good because you are going to create a whole new system. The first thing that you are going to do is remove the Academy from the hands of the civilian council…"

And so the planning began, meanwhile

"Oh Naruto how did this happen?"

Laughter filled the kitchen but to understand why Sai and Sasuke were on their backs laughing and Kari was struggling not to join them let us rewind this back to a few minutes ago

Naruto, Sai and Sasuke had in a rare moment decided to come together and deal with their hungry stomachs because their grandmother was busy in the study and told them to go prepare something in the kitchen thinking that they will have a bowl of cereal or a snack oh no the boys wanted to impress their hard working grandmother by making a fancy lunch something similar to what Sasuke's mother makes during one of the families parties or events.

The first problem was noticed almost immediately what were they going to cook? After some consideration they decided on making a fried turkey, some fruit juice and then some ice cream simple no?

Well it is like they say; talk is cheap. Because somehow some way when Naruto went to pick up the turkey and the fruits that they needed that is bananas from the freezer and carry them both to the table where he and Sai will handle the banana juice because their Baa-chan had taught them how and Sasuke handles the turkey because he has seen his mother do it a lot of times the bananas ended up on the floor from overloaded arms and he slipped causing him to cry out which brought Kari to the kitchen and scared the boys so none of them knew how Naruto ended up wearing the turkey on his head and also decorating his new hat with bananas

"Owie uh who turned off the lights?"

Sasuke managed to stop laughing for a second to say "the turkey"

"Oi turkey's don't have legs teme" the site of a Naruto with a turkey on his head adopting a stern pose was more than Kari could handle so she joined her grandsons on the floor laughing leaving a very confused turkey I mean Naruto in her wake.

A few minutes later the turkey was cooking and Naruto was red faced and wishing the ground would just open up and swallow him because while nobody said anything about the incident they were smiling and he knew why and Sasuke made it worse by playing with the lights trying to see if they were working while whistling it was frustrating to say the least I mean yeah if it was someone else he wouldn't mind laughing but it was not someone else I mean how the hell could he be a ninja if he lost to a turkey?

It was ridiculous so since he couldn't say anything without embarrassing himself the more he settled on glaring at Sasuke instead that is until Kari asked him to follow her while Sai and Sasuke watched the turkey and didn't burn it.

When they got Kari's bedroom she instructed him to seat on the bed then she got him his towel from his room and instructed him to follow her into the bathroom where she gave him a thorough scrubbing while he was of course in typical Naruto fashion kicking and screaming the whole way down but she didn't pay any mind to him after the bath she changed his clothes and sat him in her laps while she rested her back on the bed's back board

Smiling down at him in the way only your grandmother ever could Naruto found himself calming down and subconsciously leaning in until his head was rested on her and her arms were wrapped around him, "do want to hear a story Naru-chan?"

At that point she could have served him vegetables and he would have eaten them gladly "Hai Baa-chan"

"A long time ago a man from a prestigious family was asked to go and fetch a pet for his Lord's wife, the man did not go alone he was accompanied by two incredible people and they were a team. You see the cat had a record of running away and nobody could find and bring it back without it wanting to come on its own. But this man or rather a 12 year old boy was determined to bring the cat in he was after all a very talented young man and his teammates were equally very good at what they did. But the cat was wiser did you know what the cat did? Well it would hang around in obvious places and when they tried to grab him he would shoot forward and they will hit the ground while he escaped.

Time and time again this cat caused them to fall on the ground, into mud, into a pool even into a garbage bin. So at that point the team decided to give up the mission and return home and simply wait for a better one not knowing that the cat was exhausted and if they had tried it one more time they would have been the first team ever to catch him and bring him in instead they failed that mission and never tried again. Does that sound familiar?"

Lowering his eyes that were once sparkling from a good story he whispered "but Baa-chan how can I be a good ninja; I lost the fight to a turkey and I didn't even know"

"Being a ninja or a ninja in training doesn't mean that you never fall down or that you are perfect nobody is. My mother used to tell me that the fact that you have fallen down is interesting but what is important is whether or not you have the courage to get back up because Naruto that is what makes a true Shinobi okay?"

Smiling now Naruto looked up "Hai Baa-chan arigatou"

"You are very welcome my boy"

"Baa-chan what happened to the boy?"

"Well he grew up to be a legend but to me he will always be that little boy who failed to catch the cat" _'it is probably best that he doesn't see his current Hokage in such a bad light'_

"Now what do you say we go outside and join the two eavesdroppers that we have there?"

"Eep scram"

Now Naruto was the one laughing at his brothers yeah brothers I guess home really is what you make of it.

Later that evening Itachi stopped by to pick up Sasuke much to the boy's delight though he would probably regret squealing at the site of his big brother later on, ah revenge is a sweet thing

The next day,

Kakashi was walking towards the Hokage's office with butterflies in his tummy. Last night he could barely sleep all he could think about was the plan that he and the Hokage were about to put in place and the hard part was solely his responsibility because if he screwed this up the Hokage will according to him deny ever having anything to do with him and depending on what charges the council brings will depend on whether he is suspended, demoted, jailed or killed but whichever way it turns if he doesn't have the support of the Hokage then he will be seen as an overachiever who decided to bite off more than he can chew and considering his father's reputation that will not end well for him.

Because while he would like to think that people had forgotten that was not the case if it were not for the fact that he had already been in the Shinobi system when the incident happened he probably won't be where he is today although being close with two of the Hokages certainly did not hurt but still he was not about to tempt fate by screwing this up so he calmly knocked on the Hokage's door

"Come in"

Kakashi was not the only one who was a bundle of nerves, he was too. They had a lot riding on this I mean if it was just him then okay but he was asking a young ANBU captain to pull an Hokage sized scam on a room full of veterans not to mention people like Danzo and Shikaku who were known to have an eye for bullshit and while Shikaku is too lazy to bother himself with troublesome things like this Danzo was not and he shuddered to think what the old war hawk will do if he finds out about this because while the plan was airtight Danzo is a wind user so yes the Hokage was nervous about this whole scheme but right now he needed to be a leader to his young captain so putting on a confident smile he said

"Ready to take some old stuffies to school Kashi-kun"

Kakashi it seemed did not suspect a thing and drew confidence from his leaders' strong gaze then did an eye smile

"You do realize that that was not a response right"

"Ma, ma I'm ready Hokage-sama"

"Perfect because the council is ready for us so shall we?"

"Hai"

On getting there Kakashi broke off to hide in the shadows while the Hokage entered the room with an icy glare, part of the plan was to use the residue fear in the council members from yesterday's meeting to hasten this one along and hope that Danzo and Fugaku can keep their mouths shut.

On getting to the his seat he decided to add a minute amount of KI into the air just as a precaution or warning then he proceeded to seat down with his elbows on the table and his chin resting on his face with his eyes closed then after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence he opened his icy eyes and turned the heat up,

"I have been too trusting and soft" oh shit was the opinion around the room "yesterday made me realize that this council perhaps has somewhere along the line forgotten exactly what it was created for but I refused to believe that this was what the Second had in mind when he created the council I mean this is the same people who helped me and Minato through two brutal wars and made it possible for us to survive a bijuu attack so I decided to find out exactly what the hell is going on here so I started looking at my paperwork very carefully"

Some civilians on the council were about to piss on themselves because they knew that they had hid a lot of things in the Hokage's paperwork knowing that if they stacked it high enough when he gets to the document that they want him to sign he will only skim the surface without paying any attention to the details inside each of them were now praying that it was not them because after the display yesterday and his expression today they did not want to be the unfortunate person who gets on his bad side

Taking note of them without them knowing Sarutobi continued "What I found was so good that I started laughing I found a bunch of bullshit hidden inside the documents that I signed I mean some clever people had hidden small laws inside my paperwork and in my blind trust I just skimmed through and signed but guess what I'm not blind anymore"

A spike of KI was all it took to make three civilians pee their pants and inch towards the door when the room suddenly grew cold and the Sandaime was right in front of them with a sick smile on his face "going somewhere?"

Two of them fainted and the other one ran for the door before he was knocked out and placed back in his chair all three were then tied up and the Sandaime returned to his seat _'well so far so good'_

"Now then that was not what made me joyous what made me joyous was finding out that some of you on the council have businesses outside of the village businesses funded by the village which means that Konoha has some extra money coming in and I did not know about it"

This was the kicker right now the Sandaime was bluffing but he was hoping that one of them will flinch so that he can know he should continue or not but they were still pressing on so he decided to turn his whole expression and body language and tone of voice to the one he used in war

"According to the laws of Konoha any business funded by the village belongs to the village and every person in this room knows that, am I correct?" Bingo two flinchers detected

"So I decided to go to those business ventures and evaluate them myself and if I like what I see then the businesses stay but they automatically belong to the village but if I don't like what I see then whatever towns or places that the businesses reside in will then own them is that acceptable by the council? Oh what am I saying of course it is, it is after all what the law states however I won't be leaving you without a leader come on out."

Kakashi came out looking like he could not care less about what was going on, this was also part of the plan if the council notices that Kakashi is a nonchalant individual then they will be more concerned about the Hokage meaning they will ignore the snake in favour of watching the tiger not knowing that they should be observant of both

"Hokage-sama" that implies that he is loyal to only the Hokage by not greeting the council at all

"Kakashi here will be in charge of the village in my absence and during that time frame he will be granted the full powers of the Hokage" both men spotted Fugaku smirking and they smiled briefly about his stupidity

"On that note I am also activating the Hatake seat and giving Kakashi full use of it alongside the Sarutobi seat seeing as how my son is away and I won't be around also he is in charge of the Namikaze seat as well seeing as how he and Jiraya were registered as Minato's next of kin any questions?"

The purpose of giving Kakashi this much power was to allow him do as he pleased and for another dastardly reason, Danzo will not believe Kakashi is capable of deserving such power so he will start to look for the real reason by using his spies and since the Hokage was leaving then he will send his men after him and when he does Sarutobi will kill them and if Kakashi finds anyone who lacks the basic emotion a human being is supposed to have he is to kill them quickly with any warning otherwise they may be able to send a message to Danzo. This way they can hopefully shorten his force by a sizeable lump.

"Good then I guess that's all"

"Not so fast Sarutobi"

'_Of course Danzo it's always Danzo but if let an insult like that slide then everything that happened today will lose its effect and I will give Danzo a psychological advantage and that will spell bad news in time to come but if I attack him too furiously then I will present myself as a tyrant and nobody likes a tyrant because while right now fear works in my favour a village that fears its leader is ripe for rebellion and the last thing I need is for my people too view Danzo as an easier and more compassionate leader than me that will not be good at all so best handle this carefully'_

"So meeting adjourned"

"Sarutobi"

"Have a wonderful day everyone and I hope to meet you all in excellent condition when I return I just hope this old bones can handle such a long trip" the joke plus the grandfatherly smile was more than enough to dispel the tension in the air and remind everyone that he did not hate them he was just angry at some people justly but he hadn't changed so they could still definitely trust him to be their humane leader they were only just reminded that his patience should not be tested

'_Well played Sarutobi well played indeed' _"Hokage-sama a word please?"

"Oh of course Danzo what is it?" _'Take that you old war hawk' _

"Perhaps the council should know why you are trusting a child with the duty of ruling a village the size of Konoha do you not trust your council to handle things"

"Of course I do but I am trusting Kakashi to do this because we need to think about the future of Konoha and the next Hokage because I won't be in this seat forever at some point I would like to step down and let someone younger take charge and yes Danzo I do trust my council I trust them to guide him while I am gone and hope that they don't take advantage of him because of his age after all he is the youngest ANBU captain for a reason"

"I see…"

"Tell you what why don't we release the council so that they can go about their daily lives so that us old folks can keep talking okay? Alright everyone out with you trust me once Danzo and I start we will be here all day" instantly everyone cleared out "alright Danzo you were saying?"

"Forget it we will talk later"

Sarutobi smirked as he watched Danzo walk out then he turned to Kakashi "find me everything you can about the five people we tagged use the person we agreed on it will buy us the time that we need to do everything that we need to do and if Kari comes over tell her that we are working together and that's all and if she pushes say he wants to catch the cat this one more time okay?"

"Hai Hokage-sama I will see you when you return"

"Good luck Kakashi-kun you are going to need it" and with that he left leaving Kakashi in the council room alone and in deep thought about what he had ahead of him unaware of the eyes watching him in the dark

"Hmmm boss will want to know about this"

Meanwhile in the Uchiha clan head's household

Itachi was getting very nervous, this morning had begun in typical fashion; he woke up, trained a little, ate breakfast, took Sasuke to school, bought some pocky and then returned home to pick up his gear and go and train for a while and then do something new to his schedule; go and see Anko but when he got home he received the shock of his life: his stoic stuck up father was grinning like he just got the keys to the village in his back pocket, that made him very nervous and frankly he almost asked who died but instead he got his gear and was about to vanish when his mother called him

"Yes Kaa-chan"

"Where are you going Itachi-kun?"

"To go and train father"

"Leave that for now no training today"

"What the fuck?"

"Itachi watch your language I thought I trained you better this is a happy day for the clan so if your father says there is no training then there is no training there is more to life than training after all"

"Your mother is right"

"Again I ask what the fuck? Have you both lost your mind or is this some sick test to check my determination to our cause because I am"

Shaking her head Mikoto looked at her son with love in her eyes, Itachi almost puked "listen Itachi today is a free day so why don't you go and have some time off okay?"

He was so dumbfounded and angry that he didn't know when he walked out and suddenly found himself walking until he came to his secret training ground where Anko was sun bathing

When she heard someone coming up she smirked and was about to make a cheesy comment when she turned around and saw the expression on his face, so instinctively she got up and approached him

"Itachi oi Itachi, Itachi snap out of it. Itachi! What the heck?"

"**What the fuck is going on here?" **

His shout scared the life out their surroundings and sent Anko to the ground on her butt as he started pacing

"Who the hell do they think they are? Go have some time off they said when have they ever given me a time off? Something is definitely going on I mean people like that don't just wake up and flip their switch I need to go check the graveyard somebody was killed today and that's why their happy, yes somebody died that has to be it but if somebody died then who killed him and why haven't we heard about it yet I mean this is a Shinobi village a dead person is not something that they can just cover up unless they are about to kill him but then who, who is about to die…"

SLAP!

"Can you start making sense now?"

"Anko what are you… wait how did I get here?"

"I think it was with something called your legs"

"I must have been really out of it"

"Ya no cheese so you want to explain the craziness that you just displayed?"

"I don't really think…"

"It's cute that you think that that was a request, spill now"

"Come on let's seat" when they were seated against a tree Itachi narrated what happened to Anko as she listened patiently

"Wow that's really messed up"

"I know they're are happy"

"No I mean you think that only the death of your parents enemy can make them genuinely happy and give you a day off that is some pretty messed up shit tachi-chan"

"This is serious Anko we need to find out why they are so happy I mean now someone may either be dead or well on his way to being dead"

"Can't the reason be that they are celebrating maybe their anniversary or something? I mean why even think it's not just a normal thing that you haven't noticed before"

Itachi gave a blank stare "are you stupid?"

Anko glared at him "I am beginning to think that the stupid one here is you I mean come on your parents are happy all of a sudden and the only thing that you can think about is that they are going to kill someone or that they already have these are your parents you know the people who gave birth to you; the person who carried you for nine months and the person who raised you so before you accuse them of murder maybe you should be happy for them?"

"Will you be happy if you see a genuinely happy Orochimaru after all he taught you everything you know so seeing him happy should bring you some amount of joy right?"

Shocked and hurt Anko could only stare at the person she called her best friend and guardian angel "I can't believe you just went there what Orochimaru has to do with this?"

Itachi knew he should not have said that it was a low blow but he was angry and hurt and maybe a little scared of what his parents could have done and when he noticed that Anko was making sense he decided that she was the enemy and he needed to regain control of the situation before she started to think that he was losing his edge

"I guess your father's ability to cut people wide open runs in the family" Anko stood up and started to walk away but before she left she turned around and said "I can only hope Sasuke won't get on his brother's bad side or heaven forbid disagree with him only Kami knows what you will do to him he may find out that he was safer with his father than with the one he looks up to and heaven help Konoha if he takes after you" and with that she left

Itachi could not stay there he had messed up and he knew it and right now he was smart enough to know that solitude was not a good idea right now so he made his way to see a friend of his

Knocking on the door was hard because he felt that he had lost Anko and he couldn't survive if he lost this one too,

"I'm coming oh Itachi what's wrong?"

"Hello Kari-san can we talk?"

"Of course my boy come on in, would you like a cup of tea I just brewed a fresh pot?"

"That sounds heavenly thank you"

"Have a seat I will be right back okay don't move"

"Hai"

'I wonder where Naruto is.'

A few minutes later

"Here now it's hot so be careful"

Helping her set the tray down Itachi poured them both a cup and gave Kari hers and sipped his, "lovely as always"

"So what is wrong Itachi you look like hell warmed over?"

"Where is Naruto?"

"Oh he is in school decided he needed to interact and so I sent him to civilian school he is not yet grounded enough to be in Shinobi school"

"I see"

"Well talk you surely did not come all this way to talk about Naruto did you?"

"No I did not"

"Good so what is the problem?"

"Me I am the problem Kari-san"

"Why don't you tell me everything sweetheart okay I have all day?"

"Okay" and so again Itachi repeated all that happened today including now everything that happened with Anko as well as his feelings on the issue after speaking he bent his head and held his cup in his hands that he kept in between his legs and waited for Kari's response

"Boys" she sighed then she put both their cups aside and raised Itachi's head up so that he could read her expression clearly "you know what you did is wrong right?"

"Hai I do"

"And you know that she was right when she said what she said right?"

This one took a few seconds but eventually he nodded his head in agreement

"And you also know that you have to apologize right?"

"I know Kari-san I just don't know if she will take me back I said some very bad things to her, she didn't deserve that at all"

"I am glad you know but the thing about forgiveness is that you can never know you can have it unless you ask for it"

"But what if…"

"Itachi simple question, do you love this girl?"

"You have asked me that question before and I don't know"

"Think about it, how do you feel right now?"

"Horrible like someone just ripped my heart out I hate feeling like this Kari-san"

"Nobody does sweetheart next question how do you feel when you are with her and you guys is having fun?"

"Free I feel so free and happy"

"Have you guys cuddled before?"

Itachi blushed "Hai"

"Good how did that feel?"

Itachi at this point was turning into a brilliant shade of red "it felt uh it felt good"

"Just good okay do you sometimes wish to be more than her friends with her"

"Yes"

"Well congratulations kiddo you are in love with Anko Mitirashi I don't want to hear it now go out there find the girl you love and beg her to forgive you"

"But…"

"I said I don't want to hear it now go before I make you regret it"

"Hai"

Itachi practically ran to Anko's place and when he got to her window and saw her tear-streaked face his heart melted 'please let me make this right please oh please let me make this right'

Entering the house Anko was on the couch lying down and she looked up and saw him with a pained expression on her face but before she could say anything Itachi knelt down in front of her "I messed up big time I said things that I shouldn't have said I should be happy for my parents and it is messed up that I don't I care no I love you Anko I know I have a lot to make up for but please let me make this right"

"When did you get so emotional?"

"Around the time that I met a girl who changed my whole life and I am praying that she doesn't hate me"

"Do you have dango?"

"An entire pack"

"Then no she doesn't hate you"

Smiling he pulled her up and put her on his lap with his arms around her "I am so sorry"

"It is okay tachi-chan now where is that dango?"

Itachi laughed


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A month later

Taro was not happy hell that was an understatement he was enraged and he shouldn't be I mean he just got promoted to special Jounin, it was a new year full of new possibilities and a hopeful promotion to Jounin yet he was far from happy he wanted blood.

You see people like Taro were not born with any special abilities they had to fight for every little thing that they got, people who had a problem with other people trampling over them and they not being taught a lesson

Taro's problems fortunately had names and reasons attached to them and ways on how to get rid of them. Their names are the Uchiha clan and the Kyuubi. The Uchiha clan were a bunch of bullies who brought the Kyuubi to his front door and for every bad thing that they have ever done the Hokage could not touch them because of politics and the other Shinobis could not because of the same reason well he wasn't the other Shinobis and he was going to do something about the damn clan's rein by attacking a spot that he could easily take out yet would get his message out loud and strong by killing Uchiha Sasuke Itachi's little brother and one of the two heirs to the prestigious clan

The other person on his kill list was the Kyuubi jinchuriki. You see he was not like the civilians who thought that the Kyuubi was a five year old boy he knew the truth that the Yondaime sealed the beast shut inside a boy but that was not good enough for him. On missions assassinations were things that came with the job so he was not afraid of killing a five year old boy to make sure that the Kyuubi got the punishment that it deserves

Now on a normal day killing two high profile individuals was impossible for anyone below Elite Jounin but in this case the individuals were kids and a friend of his in the higher ups that he did not really like had given him access to the location of both of these people who sweetly enough were in the same place so while he removes the kids guard dogs he could go in take out his targets and be out before anyone notices anything and best of all because of Danzo-sama nobody will be able to trace it back to him and so with that he got ready for tonight because before midnight Naruto and Sasuke will be dead

As they watched him go the Elders plus Danzo smirked "Do you think he can pull it off"

"Best case scenario we have two murders we can't explain away and worst case scenario the Kyuubi gets free and kills us all"

"Don't worry about that the seal is sealed shut the beast is not going anywhere and he won't be able to kill them I have an agent there who is going to be watching the fool all I need him to do is severely injure the child then with Sarutobi gone and Kakashi not caring for anything I can approach the boy as a friend and convince him to join me"

"And if he refuses?"

"Well then I will make my 'plea' to the council about how an Iwa Shinobi came into our village under our dear young Hokage's watch and tried to kidnap an Uchiha and the jinchuriki and how both boys were saved by my men. This way they will hand custody over to me and the boy will have no choice but to accept"

"And since an 'Iwa' Nin was responsible they will not be hard to convince that an attack on our mortal enemies is a bad idea and if it fails then Kakashi takes the fall"

"And then of course I can be nominated as the Hokage because Kakashi's incompetence will be Sarutobi's fault"

"Brilliant as always Danzo brilliant as always"

Laughter filled the room were the snakes were.

Kakashi however had just sent the documents that the Third asked for via Pakkun and as such it was almost time for the first phase of the change to begin all he needed now was a reason to call a council meeting concerned about some documents that he 'found' in the Hokage's archive and as he watched a certain usually unhappy special Jounin smiling as he left the Elders office he knew it was only a matter of time

'_Sandaime-sama was right Danzo will try to take out Naruto and then use the smoke screen to take custody of him I just hope he was right about him not aiming to kill because the pawn that he selected is quickly becoming an expert assassin that after all was the basis for his promotion to special Jounin. Well, all we can do now is wait and hope Naruto doesn't find out that we used him as bait or Kari-san for that matter she might kill us…wait if she finds out that we used her grandson as bait then she will want blood but the owner of the idea is away and I'm the one who carried it out but Sandaime-sama is not here oh shit!'_

Somewhere far away Sarutobi had the certain urge to smirk _'I guess I still got it after all'_

Meanwhile at the Sozen estate

Naruto and Sai were waiting for Sasuke to come so that they could start training Baa-chan has so far taught them a lot of basics reading and writing for Naruto, physicals for Sai and communications and human relations for Sasuke and strategy for all three of them but today starts the real training; weapons and let us just say that Naruto was getting very impatient waiting for the third person in their trio

"Oh come on where is that dang Uchiha?"

"Language Naruto-kun"

Naruto pouted and sat back down and after five seconds would have exploded again if not for the fact that the door opened and Sasuke walked in alongside Itachi and Baa-chan

"Finally duck butt what in the name of ramen took you so long what did you come across a tomato on the way here?"

Itachi smirked at the barb especially since the delay was caused by their father who did not let him go until he had practised enough and Sasuke refused to go without him

"Put a sock in it whiskers I'm here aren't I?"

"Have you had lunch Sasuke-chan?"

"Hai Baa-chan"

"Great he has had lunch can we go now we're burning daylight I want to learn how to throw a kunai today people"

Sai sighed "He's been like this all afternoon it is exhausting"

Kari and Itachi chuckled while Sasuke smirked Naruto on the other hand was twitching in the eye and hand

"Well thank you Itachi-kun for stopping by, I will see you tomorrow"

"Wait teme's spending the night?"

"Yup"

"Perfect" sarcastic was the reply

Itachi rubbed Sasuke's head before leaving and frankly Naruto got a little jealous both Sai and Sasuke had big brothers but all he had was a big fox stuck in his gut

Sensing his mood Kari asked "you okay Naru-chan?"

Since he was not skilled at hiding his emotions yet she got a subdued 'yeah' fortunately the boys did not understand what was going on they just thought he had finally lost his patience so Kari decided not to bring too much attention to Naruto's current mood

"Alright let's go outside people I'm not about to let you throw sharp objects in the house" on the way out however she rubbed Naruto's head affectionately and when he looked up in shock she gave him that grandmotherly smile that brightened up his whole "Coming squirt?"

"You bet Baa-chan I am going to ace this"

"You mean like you aced maths"

"Maths is a living breathing demon that can only be understood by crazy people"

"I understand it" said Sai

"You see case in point"

Kari simply laughed when they got outside Kari handed them a kunai each making sure to tell Naruto to listen to her instructions before he threw his

"Alright today we are going to be killing two birds with one stone behind me are trees you three are going to pick one each and the then climb it to the top without your hands you will use the kunai to mark your progress that way you will know what your level is and the constant slashing will give your hands training it needs to hold and use a kunai properly"

"Uh Baa-chan how are we going to climb a tree without our hands" asked a confused Sai

"I know by channelling the right amount of chakra to our feet and climbing it, too much and we break the tree and fly off and if we use too little then we will slip"

"That's very correct Naru-chan"

Sai and Sasuke were left gaping "what the hell just happened?"

Sai simply shook his head and rubbed his eyes "um he got the answer to a question that we had no idea to correctly?"

Naruto simply took a badass pose with a wide smile on his face "Oh yeah baby who is the dobe now huh not this guy because I got the answer to something when you couldn't which means that I am smarter than you" he then proceeded to stick his tongue at them and do a victory dance forgetting that there was a kunai in his hand

"Eep" the said kunai had nearly taken his ear off

Sasuke then breathed a sigh of relief while Sai said "and he's back much better" causing both boys to laugh and Kari to smirk _'they look more and more like a team everyday maybe when they graduate we can put them together hmm thought for another day I guess'_

"Um Baa-chan you said this training will help us get used to holding a kunai but you only gave us one won't it be better for us to just train both our hands at once?"

"Hmmm excellent observation Sai here" she then handed them another one making two Naruto made sure to catch and hold his as far away from his body as possible

"Alright it is 4pm in a couple of hours I will have to go meet with the village Elders who apparently have something for me so you guys start training there is food and drinks in the kitchen for when you get tired I expect you guys to have reached a decent level by the time I get back okay?"

"You got it Baa-chan"

"Okay begin"

And with that they took off and early on they noticed that Sasuke had better control over his chakra than the rest of them so that spurred the boys on to be better than the Uchiha

'_Yep there is definitely a team in there somewhere as soon as they get past their boyish egos and learn to fight together oh well nothing a little fight against a trained killer won't fix, Sarutobi and Danzo really need to learn that not much gets past me let's see how the boys hold up though' _

The Kyuubi however was bored well that was until he felt two things circling around his host's location _**'hmm this is strange they seem to be semi sentient things but I have never felt this much nature energy concentrated on anything before this could be bad, good things were starting to get really boring around here I need a little action for once'**_

Five hours later the Kyuubi got his wish but it was not what he expected, the boys had just taken an hour break from tree climbing and they were determined to get up to half off the tree before calling it a day and continuing tomorrow, it was either luck or Kami that made Sai bend down to tie his sandals properly and as such dodge the kunai that sailed past his head and buried itself deep into the tree beside him

"Whoa"

"What the hell?"

"That was not me I swear"

"True it was me"

**Playing Kid Ink – Ride Out **

The boys turned around together and came face to face with someone dressed in all black leaking KI that was really freaking the boys out Naruto used to people trying to kill him asked "Who the heck are you and what are you doing here?"

"Oh look the Kyuubi brat has some guts after all not bad you pathetic waste of space"

"Oi nobody insults him except me you idiot"

"Oh yes I forgot you two don't know do you? Well would you like me to tell you why I called him the Kyuubi brat?"

"Shut up!"

"Oooh scared boy well why shouldn't I tell your two friends how the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi inside your gut and how the entire village wants you dead because of it I mean what's the worst that could happen oh oops me and my big mouth"

"We already know that you jerk" said an irate Sasuke shocking Naruto to the core "and we don't care so leave now before we kick your ass all the way to Suna and back"

"Despite my brother's bad mouth that he really needs to wash-"OI!"-I completely agree with him Naruto is our brother and we will defend him no matter what, family is family right Naruto"

The statement stopped Naruto from crying from happiness and put a fire in his belly and an ease on his heart "yeah Sai now then I advise you to leave before we put you in a hospital you fucking cocksucker"

Taro couldn't help but laugh at the stupidity that these five year olds were displaying "you're kids and I am a Jounin _'well special Jounin but they don't need to know that'_ there is only one way this goes so my advice is that you hold still and let me kill you don't worry I will make it painless"

Naruto decided to copy one of the badass comics that he had read "I wish I could say the same to you but didn't your mother tell you that you should never attack a wolf pack in the middle of the night"

Sasuke picked up after him "unless of course you are prey in which case it's okay, for us that is because we were getting quite hungry after all"

Sai finished it up "and dense fool is what's for dinner" the boys then got into their 'stances' using the kunais that their Baa-chan had given them

Taro simply smirked "can't catch what you can't see" he then disappeared but the boys could feel his KI very clearly but they could not pinpoint where so they formed a circle facing different directions with their kunais ready

"Please tell me that we have a plan of attack" asked Sai

"I have a plan; attack" said Naruto causing Sai and Sasuke to facepalm

"Too much television Naruto and yeah I think I got an idea Sai, Naruto you think you can ask the fox to scan for him and report back to us?"

'_Can you?'_

"**Normally I will not but I need you to stay alive so yes he is to your left 30 feet 10 feet on the ground and 20 in the tree"**

"He said he is 30 feet to our left and high up in a tree what now?"

"This cover me" Sasuke then went through his hand signs "Katon: Gokayuu no Jutsu" an impressive ball of fire shot towards Taro who did not expect the Uchiha to know that technique but it looked D-rank at best so he dodged only to get stabbed in his left arm with a brush

"What the?" removing the brush he noticed that the boys were still in formation so who stabbed him he decided to repeat what happened and check who attacked him

"**Ten o'clock"**

A fireball headed straight for Taro bigger this time and when he tried to dodge he would have paid attention to his surroundings if Naruto did not scream for no reason and when he looked to check why, he got a kunai in his right arm and another one in his left; the same spot the brush was before he removed it

After removing the kunais thankfully they did not go deep he noticed that the boy with the straight black hair had not moved since Sasuke shot the first fireball _'damn it a clone'_ a kunai solved the clone problem and a spike of chakra revealed the boy's location

He shot towards him but he got a log instead the boy was back in formation without any weapons so Taro decided not to bother with picking apart the kids and instead beat the shit out of them so with that in mind he charged and the boys scattered so he went after Sai

"Sai look out" too late a punch in the gut got the five year old log

'_Wait log damn it'_

The boys were now the ones in hiding "Damn he's fast I barely got out in time we need a plan now or else we are toast period"

"Okay what does Baa-chan say we should do when we are backed into a corner? Assess ourselves, our opponent and our environment"

"Wait Sasuke your sharingan what activates it?"

"I don't know dobe"

"**Threat of dying"**

"Sai how many Justus do you know?"

"Henge, Kawarimi and Bushin"

"Okay I think have a plan, Sasuke do you trust me?"

"Mildly"

"Good enough for me" _'Kyu do you think you could jumpstart his sharingan for me?'_

"**You do realize that your plan is likely to get you all killed if you miss by a millisecond right?"**

'_That's not an answer'_

"**Hn sure touch him"**

"Sasuke Kyuubi said that he could help you activate your sharingan here grab my hand"

'_Okay go'_

Sasuke felt like he had been invited to hell his entire body felt like it was on fire and he could feel his eyes burning **"Sorry I lied to your friend I just want to eat you"** he saw a giant malicious fox open his mouth and he saw sharp pointy teeth heading straight towards him as scream later saw him back in the forest and his eyes itching

"Well looks like it worked"

"You okay Sasuke?"

"Yeah whoa everything is seriously sharp"

"Okay Naruto what's the plan?"

Taro was getting frustrated he could not find the brats well that was until he saw a massive fireball heading his way from above and when he tried to dodge it followed him no matter how fast he tried to move it just followed him until he tried to jump on a branch only to have the branch turn into Sai so with a fireball behind him and a five year old with a kunai in front of him he decided to kill two birds with one stone by grabbing Sai stabbing him in the stomach and tossing him towards the fireball that immediately died out with a cry of "SAI!"

'_Got ya'_

Naruto had been pushing his chakra into Sasuke who used his chakra control and his sharingan to guide Taro to Sai who was then supposed to stab him in the legs so that he couldn't move and then it was beat down season but beat down season was still open but this time it was the other way around

"There you are" Naruto went first because Sasuke was still weak from the last jutsu but he kept his sharingan open because they had another plan in case the first one failed

Naruto immediately tried to go for his injured arms only to get a knee in the stomach followed by a kick in his jaw and then a punch and back kick to his stomach that sent him flying

Sasuke then shot his two kunai to Taro who dodged them by turning sideways missing the wire in the low light until it spun around him and tied him up then Sasuke shot forward with a kunai in hand only for Taro to shoot forward as well and when he tried to trip Sasuke his sharingan caught it and sending chakra to his legs he jumped over it placed the kunai in Taro's shoulder then jumped back as Naruto climbed back up

"Impressive however" Taro then sent chakra to his arms and broke free removing the kunai in his shoulder and then attacked Sasuke as Naruto watched though his eyes could see it his body couldn't keep up

The first thing that happened was that Taro drove a kunai through Sasuke's arm then pulled it out and gave him a powerful blow to the head that sent the Uchiha spinning he then caught him by the leg and sent him hurling towards a tree branch which he met rib first

"Your friends are good but now they are dead so you are mine" Naruto was helpless as Taro hit him again and again and Naruto couldn't do anything because all he saw was Sai getting stabbed and tossed and Sasuke getting thrown into a tree branch. Both of his best and only friends were dead and he couldn't stop it

Meanwhile Danzo's Root agent had picked up a breathing Sasuke and taken him to where Sai was in order to complete a part of his mission killing them both at the same spot and take Sasuke's sharingan back to Danzo however he didn't count on both boys getting up and charging him with Sai brandishing the kunai he was stabbed with so he sent them back with a kick in the ribs

"Darn it we are getting creamed where did this one come from?"

"I don't know but we are injured and he is not this doesn't look good"

And it got worse the Root agent that will be known as Ra from now on made a string of hand signs and said

"Doton: Earth Dragon Jutsu"

"Shit move!"

The Dragon rose up and charged but thanks to Sasuke's warning they avoided getting killed but they were injured so the dragon passed in between them and jammed their sides hard

Ra was about to go and finish them off when it happened a glow shot forward and enveloped the boys and by the time it cleared their injuries were gone their chakra was replenished and the biggest shock of all was that they were now holding weapons

Sasuke had an O shaped katana with a blue sheath with gold highlights "Yamato"

Sai had a Bo staff with a gold-ish brown surface "Force Edge"

The boys looked at themselves and at their new blades and then at Ra and then smirked "Oh yeah it's on now mask head"

Sasuke deadpanned "Leave the insults to me and Naruto Sai you just don't"

And with that the fighters got ready for round two meanwhile back with Naruto

Naruto was on his elbows on the ground trying to stand up and check on his friends he needed to see them he needed to know if they were dead because of him but a foot stomped on his back stopped him

"You are pathetic you know that? The first part of being on a team is that you watch out for your teammates but yet here you are beneath my foot injured and bleeding and your friends are dead"

Naruto whispered "no they are not"

"I'm sorry I can't hear you what is it you said about your pathetic friends"

Naruto at this point was drawing on the Kyuubi's chakra in his anger and healing his wounds the next statement caused him to snap "Where is your wolf pack now boy?"

RAAAAA!

Naruto screamed and forced Taro to jump away and as he stood up Taro watched as Naruto's eyes turned blood red, he grew fangs and claws and then all his wounds healed

"Of course you would rely on the Kyuubi to beat me boy"

The statement snapped Naruto back to his senses much to the Kyuubis' disappointment he then stood up and stared at Taro with rage in his eyes "You hurt my family and now I am going to hurt you"

Smiling Taro said "I will like to see you try boy"

Naruto picked up a kunai that was on the ground and charged Taro who dodged Naruto's headshot and gave him an uppercut to the stomach he then placed his hands on the floor and pushing himself up launched Naruto into the trees

"**You could always ask for my help you know?"**

"No he's right your chakra is your chakra not mine and this is my fight not yours so win or lose it has to be on me otherwise I'll always fall back to you anytime things get a little tough"

The Kyuubi was impressed **"so you would rather die than take a shortcut?"**

"Yes"

"**I'm impressed brat I have a plan that might help you win and I think you are definitely going to like it"**

"I trust you Kyu what's the plan?"

"So Sasuke got any plans on how you want to play this?"

"One; turkey"

Sai smirked "Turkey"

"**Turkey"**

Naruto chuckled "Turkey"

Sasuke keeping the sheath on his sword ran forward aiming for Ra's waist but just as he was about to get him Sai substituted with him and using Ra's head as a springboard, since Ra had bent down in order to take out Sasuke, jumped up and slammed force edge onto his back pushing Ra forward into Sasuke's waiting swing but he was fast enough to avoid it the only he could by jumping up which was what they wanted in the first place

Naruto charged at Taro and aimed for his legs forcing Taro to jump up then

Sai drove his Bo staff up Ra ass destabilizing his whole body and sending Ra into Sasuke's downward swing that slammed into Ra's ear further damaging his balance so by the time Ra landed he managed to stand but was seeing triple and was wobbling they then proceeded to slam their weapons into his head knocking him out permanently

Naruto then pushed chakra into his kunai and threw it at Taro and it struck him in the ass also unknowingly destroying his balls and dick then he pushed chakra into his feet and jumped up slamming his right leg into Taro's ear sending him face first into a tree the hits made Taro numb and dazed Naruto then sucker punched him knocking him out

"Nice job dobe"

Turning around he saw Sai and Sasuke holding someone and they also had weapons at their back "they found us"

"Damn dobe you used turkey too huh?"

"Yep it was actually Kyu's idea"

'_Thanks by the way for everything'_

"**Hn" **

"So how are we going to explain this?" asked Sai who frankly was very confused and in need of some sleep

The boys simply shrugged

Ten minutes later

"And then we brought them home and met you" finished Sai

Kari was almost sure that she had stepped into a different house or dimension I mean sure she knew that Danzo was sending someone to off the kids but she already had a plan in motion of catching the killer herself after of course they had been beaten around a lot because while it was harsh the boys needed a wakeup call

She did not expect that they would not only knock out their opponents one of which was a ROOT ANBU and a special Jounin at the age of five no less. Not to mention the fact that they are now carrying two amazing looking weapons

'_Damn what the hell I mean I know I trained them to be ready and I taught them the basics yes but I did not expect this, if this is what they can do with basic training that did not involve weapons until this morning then what will they be capable of after they have mastered the basics damn just damn'_

"And you boys are okay right?"

"Hai Baa-chan we are fine though I could use some ice-cream I am feeling kind of hungry for strawberry" said Naruto

"I could use one of those" said Sasuke who then looked at Sai in question

Sai just sighed he wanted to sleep and if he let his two brothers anywhere near ice cream especially Sasuke then he won't sleep at all because they would instantly become hyper but if he refused them he would be a party pooper _'the things I do'_

"Sure why not but we all have to share one bowl of ice cream no more no less"

"What why would we do that" asked Naruto

"Simple you two are sugar freaks if you have more than a third of an ice cream bowl then nobody will sleep tonight and I don't know about you guys but I would very much like to crash tonight I am exhausted strange healing or not"

"Yeah why do you guys get to have the cool weapons I want one of those ttebayo"

"And I have another question how did you guys come up with the turkey strategy that you used I did not teach you that"

The boys smirked, Sasuke then said "we used the chemical in turkey that makes you super sleepy after you eat it and then played around how to use this information to our advantage in a fight"

Sai then said "Naruto was the one who came up with the anal attack I thought of using what we knew of how the ear is responsible for body balance and when we mixed them together we got turkey"

"Yea yeah but it was only good enough for making someone seriously dizzy and for someone stronger than it will wear off in a few minutes so Sasuke came up with the hit to a special part of the neck or head that is guaranteed to knock him out so together we got Turkey badass huh Baa-chan"

"I am definitely impressed that is excellent thinking it is unexpected simple and devastating in the right hands, great job but you guys do realize that tonight was a game of serious luck because if Yamato and Force Edge had not shown up then Sai and Sasuke will be dead by now and Naruto if your opponent did not taunt you like that and went straight for the kill you won't be alive either"

The hard truth sobered up the boys very quickly it was humbling to know that if luck was not stacked heavily in their favour then they would all be dead by now

Naruto also had something to get off his chest "I am so sorry Sai Sasuke my stupid plans nearly got you killed I don't know what I would have done if you actually died so please forgive me?"

"What the hell are you talking about dobe those plans were pure genius and it allowed us be able to put our opponent in a tight spot and I got to launch a powerful fireball that I could direct thanks to you"

Sai placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder "we are not mad at you Naruto-kun like Sasuke said your plans helped a lot"

"And that is very rare since most of the time they are pretty brain dead"

Naruto could only glare at Sasuke

"Never doubt yourself Naruto we all made it because we are stronger together we always will be we are brothers after all"

"Yeah dobe sides without you, who the heck am I supposed to argue with? We both know that Sai is no good when it comes to dissing people Kami you should have heard what he called the ANBU I nearly fell down in shock"

Naruto laughed alongside Sasuke while the person in question bowed his head in shame "it wasn't that bad"

Naruto slipped his hand around Sai's shoulder "we love you just the way you are Sai we are just kidding"

"Yeah man don't feel bad okay"

"Group hug"

Kari just looked on in pride at her amazing grandsons _'sometimes I forget that they are five years old they act so much more mature than their age group that I just don't know whether to be proud of them for being prodigies in their own right or be sad that all this just means is that they may be leaving the nest sooner than I want and step into the world but whether I like it or not I need to prepare them which means it is time to start seriously training them. Dear Kami protect my boys keep them safe'_

"Alright ttebayo who wants ice cream"

"We do"

That night after seeing her boys back to bed she went to the Hokage tower at 12am in the morning to see Kakashi about not protecting her boys well it was more for her benefit and amusement than it was about teaching him a lesson because even she couldn't protect them and she also needed to dump these two fools before she did something horrifying to them for attempting to kill her grandsons

Kakashi was in his office about to go home because for the past four hours he had been going through all his files the ones that he would need for when he called the council meeting the plan was set as far as explanation was concerned but he needed to have all the necessary paperwork if he wanted to be able to pull this off otherwise Danzo will smell a rat and that will damage the plan possibly irrevocably so careful planning was needed

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Come in" _'I wonder who that could be at this hour?'_

"Hello Kakashi-kun"

'_Oh shit'_

"Now, now Kashi-kun a Hokage should not escape his own office simply because of an old lady what will our enemies think?"

'_Old lady my ass dear Kami Danzo sent Taro and a ROOT ANBU? Yep I am dead'_

"Relax Kakashi-kun I am not here to hurt you and these two are still alive but I did not put them in this state, the boys did"

That definitely got his attention "how in the name of all things pure did three five years olds take out two experienced Shinobi?"

"Turkey"

Kakashi was lost and Kari was amused "believe me you will understand it when I tell you what happened" and so she did and Kakashi was very impressed

"Damn Danzo will be pissed if he finds out that his plans were knocked out by a plan called Turkey"

They shared a laugh over that for a few minutes before Kari got serious and asked "you know what to do with all this correct"

At first he was confused before he gaped "you know? How can you know Hokage-sama and I didn't tell anyone and we were careful to make sure that nobody else did"

"Sweetheart I know things that will make your head spin trust me on that one so again do you have everything you need because that old war hawk is not old upstairs if you know what I mean"

"Hai Kari-sama" after what he had just seen then the lady earned the suffix

Kari simply smiled "I was part of the people who changed your diapers Kashi-kun you can call me Kari-san okay my boy?"

"Hai"

"Excellent well it's late or early either way we need our rest you especially you have quite the meeting ahead of you after all"

"Hai well good night Kari-san"

"Sleep well my boy" This was at 1am in the morning

Seven hours later

An hour ago the Hokage had called for a full council meeting but since it was at 8am in the morning he gave them an hour to assemble to the meeting hall that way they could wipe the sleep from their eyes and get dressed properly for the meeting especially the females who could not be seen in anything but their best; civilians.

Kakashi was the first in the hall and he dressed in the full Hokage robes except the hat which sat on the table by his right, he sat down with his elbows on the table with his chin resting on his locked hands and his eyes closed, all in all he looked very calm and controlled so people just thought that he wanted to announce something small and then in a few minutes they can go back home and some of them-Shikaku-can go back to sleep. Oh how wrong they were

Before this begins let's break down the council to you and their current duties, the civilian council was made up of ten people in charge of everything civilian related and academy related as well, they were in total control of this area

The Shinobi council was responsible for their respective clans and a few minor responsibilities; the Uchiha clan in charge of the police force, the Akimichi clan in charge of nutrition, Shikaku is the Jounin commander, Inoichi head of interrogation and Tsume in charge of hunter nin. The Elders however were in charge of everybody else as they were the Hokage's right hand and due to their age they had superiority over everything well not today

When the house was full everybody was then looking at the Hokage to start the meeting Danzo however had a feeling in his spine that this would not be a normal meeting and it may or may not have to do with the fact that his man came in this morning with an explanation that was bullocks he said that Taro had attacked him in the woods and that he then went after the kids but yet how could Taro have known that he was being followed he had of course cancelled the Nin just in case but still he was suspicious the timings were too close to each other, on that note he was content to wait this meeting out and see where it goes

Koharu on the other hand was not patient enough to wait this meeting out she had been woken up early in the morning because of a child and she was not in a patient mood today at all she wanted this meeting to end and that was why she did exactly what Kakashi had been waiting for, he didn't chose this time on a whim it had a purpose

"Well since the Hokage is not ready so meeting adjourned until a proper hour"

Kakashi smirked inwardly _'got ya'_

"If anyone leaves then consider that you will cease to be a part of this council, I refuse to work with people who can't understand the basic principle of this council that it works for the Hokage and for the Hokage only. Oh and Koharu-sama please leave"

"What why?"

"I won't ask again"

"Now you listen here boy…"

She did not get to finish her statement because in the blink of an eye Kakashi had caught her and then proceeded to fling the old lady out of the meeting hall and she hit the wall outside with a heavy thud before falling to the ground unconscious.

Silence followed Kakashi's actions even as he ordered the ANBU in the wall hence the only ROOT ANBU in the room to take Koharu to the hospital and wait for him to come before he leaves, he then resumed his seating position _'one more'_

After collecting himself the last person that needed to leave spoke up "Have you gone senile you fool why did you just do that?"

"Are you questioning me?"

"You bet your blind eye I am. What the hell is wrong with you? You know what I don't even want to know I am out of here" he then proceeded to stomp out in rage

Kakashi then brought out a folder from his desk and placed it on the table with an intimidating thud, he then looked at Fugaku and asked "Uchiha-sama what happens when the Elders and the civilian council is short one person" he asked with such a confused look on his face that even Danzo believed that he did not know

"The Hokage and the Shinobi council will be responsible for the decisions made that day until the meeting is adjourned and then the Hokage is required to either reinstate the lost ones or let the Elders and civilian council pick their replacements"

"I see well that's too bad but can I read out this plans that I have for the village council at least and then we can put it to a vote?"

"Yes I do believe that you can Hokage-sama there is no law against that"

"Excellent"

The bad feeling in Danzo's spine intensified but he simply ignored it after all there was no way that this boy could pull a fast one on him not with Sarutobi away

"I have a plan here for a new council because I don't like the current one not with the blatant disrespect I received today so now my proposal is this that the council is divided into a more structural and functional setting that will make our lives easier instead of having people who don't belong here so that way the intelligent ones can use those talents for the benefit of the village

First of all do you the Shinobi council agree to grant me full power for today I need it and I need you to help me out here because we have one shot at this otherwise we lose our chance to make this council not only bearable but fair and working towards an actual goal I promise I won't forget the trust and I will understand the distrust can't please everybody after all" hook, line and as he watched the clan heads all raise their hands in support sinker

"Thank you honourable council members now from now on all positions of power with everybody from the Elders, the civilian council and the Shinobi council have been completely revoked

From now on this is how the new council will function; one civilian, the ANBU commander, the Hunter Nin commander, the head of the medical department, the clan heads and the Hokage. There will be a body of Elders but instead they will comprise of four people; one chosen by the outgoing civilian council, two chosen by the Hokage, and the last one will be either the past Hokage or a Shinobi who has attained Sannin status so yes the legendary Sannin will be instructed to take apprentices and train them to take over from them. Does everybody like it?"

The support from the Shinobi council was total however the civilians exploded and Danzo was stunned to his bones

"Excellent now then the civilian council is given two days to choose their representative and the body of Elders is rotational meaning after five years the council will meet to choose new ones and the past ones cannot be elected again for another ten years is that understood?"

Danzo came back to his senses and tried to remedy the situation "all these laws are good and all but you need to have them in writing before they can really be implemented"

"Of course what do you think the papers here are for, I have already signed them it just needs the Shinobi's council signature and we are good to go" and right in front of Danzo's eyes the law was signed sealed and delivered back to the manager of the archive to keep safe and he couldn't send his men after him because Kakashi had already sent him away it was then he knew, he should have trusted his instincts

"Now then, before we adjourn I will like to pick my part of the advisers Tsume will you do me the honour?"

"Absolutely Hokage-sama"

"Uchiha-san will you do me the honour of being my adviser as well?"

Fugaku was so shocked that he almost stammered he was not expecting this at all "Hai Hokage-sama it will be an honour"

"Very well then the positions and the direction of the new council will be decided when we resume in two days have a nice day everyone and thank you for coming" and with that he left a dazed council in his wake with a satisfied smile on his face again missing the spy in the corner who had seen it all go down

"Hehehehehe that was good I need to report this this is too good"

Meanwhile at the Sozen household

The boys had just gotten out of bed and they were still quite sleepy but their stomachs demanded to be attended to and they needed to answer it luckily for them Kari already had breakfast ready for them and so with their brains still on sleep mode they ate breakfast and then as if in auto mode got up and went back to bed

Kari could not stop laughing at their antics but she understood after all they had been through last night they needed their beauty sleep and she wanted to allow them that privilege for today especially since they were still kids and kids their age needed their sleep however a knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts so she went to answer the door

"Good morning Kari-san"

"Ah Itachi-kun good morning how are you? Did you sleep well?"

"Hai"

"Well don't just stand there come in"

"Thank you. How is Sasuke?"

"Still asleep I'm afraid"

"At this hour how come he has school right now he's late already"

"Well he is definitely not going to school anymore I am officially taking him Sai and Naruto under my wing and the reason he is still asleep is quite interesting here have a seat and I will regal you with the details"

Itachi sat down and at the end of the briefing he was so proud of his little brother, angry that he wasn't here to help him but also happy that he had friends that he could rely on whenever he needed it

"So Sasuke has the sharingan now interesting"

Kari chuckled "oh that boy has more than the sharingan don't forget his sword"

"I have not I simply don't understand how a sword can have so much power"

"It can if it was made by an Ayumu"

"What is an Ayumu?"

"Not what sweetheart who, they are a clan that specialize in weapon making and a few years ago there was a rumour that the head of the clan had made powerful weapons from pure nature chakra making them semi sentient and very powerful but picky about their owners apparently the weapons were supposed to choose who their wielder is. I guess the rumour was not a rumour but the truth and they chose Sai and Sasuke"

"Why not Naruto-kun"

"My guess is that because the weapons were made from nature chakra it might not work well with demonic chakra or in this case a bijuu. Naruto was quite bum about it"

"Father will flip if he hears this and not in the way that will be good for Sasuke"

"Yes I thought about that that is precisely why I am taking them under my wing, the council meeting today was exactly the kind of distraction I needed to convince your daft clan Elders to hand custody of their useless heir to me so now Sasuke does not have to do anything for the Uchiha he is free"

Itachi was stunned his biggest dream had just come through his little brother was free and it was all thanks to an angel in the form of a caring and strong old lady and that was why he dropped to his knees with his head bowed and tears in his relieved eyes

"Thank you Kari-san thank you so much"

"Oh my boy get up on your feet I was more than happy to don't worry right now let us focus on preparing Sasuke and his new friends for what's to come because those boys still have enemies and they need to be ready for it"

"Hai" returning to his seat Itachi suddenly remembered something "did you say that a master swordsman made those weapons?"

"Yes I did why?"

"Well I don't think he would have made weapons that powerful and kept it a secret just for the heck of it"

Kari blinked and narrowed her eyes "Wait a minute you're right, the Ayumu clan was first and foremost a friendly clan with strong family connections just like the Uzumaki and Senju they would not make weapons that were capable of destroying a human being five ways and back just because they could there had to be a reason"

"Um the weapons they will be bad for demons right?"

"Yes but the only demons I have ever heard of are…oh my God oh shit"

"What is it Kari-san?"

"When I was a little girl my grandfather used to tell me stories of another world that was host to powerful demons and one that hosted powerful animals I thought he was just making it up until summoning contracts came into being and then we started dealing with the bijuu and still I thought the demon world that he talked about was simply to add flavour to the stories but if he was right about everything else what if he is right about the demon world as well?"

"Wait you mean there is a world another world out there somewhere that houses demons and just like everything else they are coming to our world to what take over?"

"It may sound crazy but my grandfather was right about everything else can we afford to risk thinking that all the clues that we have don't add up to something as important as the end of the world?"

"I think we should try and find the Ayumu clan and ask them what's up at worst they could help us answer the questions that we have and train the boys on how to handle their weapons but just in case we should train the boys so that they can be ready just in case you're right"

"Damn if I'm right then we are preparing to send three boys headfirst into a demon war dear Kami"

"After what I just heard they did with only basic training I think if anyone could pull it off they can"

"I sure hope you're right Itachi anyway away from stressing matters how are things with you and Anko did you sort it out?"

"Hai thanks to you Kari-san"

"Good there are not a lot of girls out there like her so hold her tight you hear me?"

"We are actually supposed to meet for a training session today I promised I will come over after seeing Sasuke"

"Well don't keep her waiting go I got Sasuke"

"I should probably wait for him to wake up"

"I will tell him that you stopped by now go"

Itachi smiled "thank you"

"Go be with her Itachi I will take care of your little brother" and with that she escorted him to the door and saw him out and when she came back she checked the time it was 11:30am

'_Wow those boys need to wake up ah hell I will wake them up in thirty minutes first I need to get their training schedules ready' _

Thirty minutes later Kari went into their room and using a water technique gave them a wet awakening

"Gah" Sai

"What the hell ttebayo" Naruto

"Eep" Sasuke

"Wakey, wakey boys we got work to do"

"Ugh Baa-chan what time is it?"

"Oh you know 12pm"

"Say what?!"

"Exactly now get dressed and meet me outside"

After she left Naruto turned to Sasuke and smirked "you said eep like a girl teme" and he got a slap on the head for his comment "ow ttebayo" rubbing his head he glared at a smirking Sasuke then Sai said

"Quit it we got things to do"

Thirty minutes later the boys were outside sitting on the ground wondering where their Baa-chan is

"Hello"

"AHHH!" they all screamed

"Don't do that ttebayo"

"Hmm well we need to work on your sensing skills"

"Uh Baa-chan what's sensing?"

They all looked at Naruto like he had grown three different stupid heads but luckily Kari answered him before Sasuke insulted him and then dampened his likeness of asking any more questions

"Excellent question Naruto-kun"

"It is?" asked a confused Sasuke

"Indeed it is Sasuke-kun. You see boys there is a difference between sensing and sensing"

"That does not make any sense Baa-chan they sound the same to me"

"Okay Sai what is sensing?"

"Simple the ability to find your opponents or an object's location"

"Correct but incomplete"

"Eh?"

"You see there are two definitions of sensing in the Shinobi world"

"What are they Baa-chan?" asked an interested Naruto

'_Good saved it'_

"Glad you asked Naruto why don't we sit down and I will explain. You see the first part of sensing is tied to what Sai said it is the ability of an individual to locate anyone or thing within a set limit just like Kyuubi did last night and helped you guys locate your opponent despite the fact that he was well hidden. This part of sensing uses the sensory organs; nose, ears, eyes and the feel of the vibrations but also there are people like the Kyuubi who use chakra waves to locate people, there are also people called sensors who have the ability to sense anything within a given range with me so far?

Good the other part of sensing has nothing to do with the senses hell the senses are useless when it comes to this one, it runs on instinct animals and experienced Shinobis are the ones that possess this kind of sensing ability. It is simply put the ability of a Shinobi to accurately know when and where his opponent is going to strike even if he can't see him something like your sharingan Sasuke but instead of having it just in your eyes it encompasses your entire being every cell working together

The first one is called awareness and the second one is called perception but yet they are both sensing abilities just different in their details understand?"

"Hai"

"Excellent now based on what I just said we are going to be upping your training so that in case what happens last night repeats itself you boys will have more than luck and fancy weapons to fight with"

"Awesome so what are you going to be teaching us Baa-chan?"

"Well Naruto you boys are five year old so for now we will focus on giving you a very solid foundation that you can fly anywhere with"

"Yeah Kawarimi really saved my life last night"

"Exactly what a lot of people fail to know about these basics is that they are the foundation of everything you will eventually learn and if you can get your personal foundation early on and get it solid and fit perfectly for you, you can become a Jounin in a matter of months"

That excited the boys so Sasuke asked "so what are we learning Kari-sensei"

The title caught her off guard for a while but she got herself back it had been a long time since anyone called her that after all her one and only students died during the war _'and now I am training another set, who is to say that these ones don't end up dead as well especially considering what they will be up against'_ she mentally shook her head _'I can't think like that these boys will be different if I don't believe in them now then they will not be able to fully trust their abilities and themselves and in the kind of fight that they are preparing for indecision and uncertainty is bound to get them killed or heavily injured and there is no way that I can allow that I need to believe in my boys after all if I don't then who will'_ and with that she faced her boys

"Alright so this is going to be or schedule from now on; Monday to Friday we will wake up at 7am get dressed and have breakfast so that by 8am we will meet here and from 8am to 12pm we will work on your physical bodies due to your age there is only so much we can push it but we will, so it will be push-ups, sit-ups, press-ups, punches, kicks, reflexes, chin-ups and laps. I will tell you the number of reps we will do on each day after this we will have a lunch break from 12pm to 2pm

Then we will focus on teaching you how to master the different ways that you can use the academy three as they are called as well as mastering your weapons both in throwing and dodging for this I will also teach you the academy style taijutsu until you have it done to pat

We will then take a dinner break by 6pm till 8pm after which in the cool of the night we will focus on your chakra, learning control, manipulation and of course chakra expansion this will end by 11pm after which everybody will go to bed and sleep after taking a shower of course and then we will pick it up the next day.

The weekends however will be your free periods to do as you please but on intervals we will continue your studies can't have your brains slacking after all so any questions?"

"Yeah Baa-chan does that mean that I am staying here from now on because I have school"

"Yes Sasuke as of today you Naruto and Sai are my apprentices and as my apprentices you are my responsibility so I met with your clan and basically adopted you"

Sasuke smiled but then his smile fell "they didn't even try to keep me did they?"

"No they did not they actually gave you away quite willingly but then again they don't see you the way we do, they will come to regret letting you go"

"I doubt that"

"Don't, you are special and if your clan can't see that then I pity them but you have a family here who values you very much it is time to move on my boy"

The reason she was saying this and holding Sasuke's shoulder was because she caught a glimpse of something in his eyes that scared her if Sasuke with all his potential went down that path it will be Madara all over again and she couldn't afford that

"Your clan is known to have worked the vengeance and jealous path a path that leads straight down to Hatred Island which is where they are now you have a choice to either follow in their paths or choose your own"

"But what if I can't choose they are my family their blood runs through my veins what if I can't help but follow them"

_'Damn from frying pan to fire first Naruto now Sasuke I need to get these boys to believe in themselves and stop this Sasuke's thought process in its track'_

"Listen to me Sasuke you are right when you say that they are your family an apple tree will without fail give birth to an apple that is a fact that you must contend with, same thing for Naruto you have a bijuu inside of you and nine out of ten times the jinchuriki becomes the bijuu and Sai you were born into an organisation that tried to kill you and your brothers so yes there is every chance that you will work for them willingly heck you might even like it

Yes there is every chance that each one of you will become monsters of the highest degree that is the same case with every person born into this life civilian or Shinobi everyone has the potential to be a demon in human skin that is why the old saying goes 'in every person is a demon' that my boys is what we call yang the side of you that is hungry to kill and destroy and believe me it is strong and relentless but it is also half of who you are

There is a part of you that is called yin your good side, as a Shinobi you will have to have both of these parts inside of you in order for you to survive. You will need the yang to help you survive the rough parts of life and the yin to laugh and enjoy it the great human will possess both just like me, just like your Hokage they are both necessary but the key is having a strong enough principle that will keep your dark side at bay until it is needed

Sandaime's principle is quite simple he carries the village on his shoulders and so tries to keep an image that will inspire his followers and yet remind his enemies that he is not to be messed with that is the foundation of being Hokage, be kind for your people yet be deadly and fatal to your enemies

Me? I have a different principle I believe that if you fight and live to defend something precious to you it will grant you the same kind of grounding that the Hokage's principle does. The similarity between these two principles is that you need to draw your strength from your love for other people the Will of Fire is drawing strength from companionship and using that strength to overcome impossible odds

So the question is what are you going to do? You can either wait for your fate to catch up to or you can grab your destiny with both hands and say 'yes this is my problem but I will be damned before I let it control me' because if you surrender to your fate in the eyes of the world you are wise because after all no one can outrun fate it always catches up to you but if you take your fate in your hands then you just signed yourself up for an impossible mission that not many have lived through let alone survived or thrived. So again what are you going to do?"

She hoped that she somehow had gotten through to one of them all she needed was for one to take what she said and follow her advice and take their fate in their hands and then say it because if the person does it will create a chain reaction that will no doubt convince the others to join and she hoped it was Naruto he always had a way with speeches that can convince you that apples are actually oranges in disguise _'come on boys make me proud'_

The boys in question were deep in thought about what they were going to do and to be honest they wanted to accept their fate as it was life was hard enough as it is no need to make it worse they were just five year olds after all what could they possibly do against fate

"Think you boys can rise up to the challenge?" that was a vixen move by Kari there were boys and she just rubbed their egos the wrong way what did she expect them to say

Sai shockingly enough was the first to talk "but what will be our principle?"

Sasuke just kept his head bowed

Naruto however raised his head up and looked dead at his brothers with his eyes blazing and his voice strong "we never give up that will be our principle no matter how hard it gets we will never give up we didn't give up last night when we took out two high level Shinobis with one strategy and if Fate wants to have a piece of us then she can come get some we will beat her senseless because we are more than just a team we are family and nobody messes with my family and gets away with it"

Sasuke raised his head and looked at Naruto's determined eyes that were practically blazing and he smirked "don't you mean our family?"

Naruto smiled and then put his right hand out palm down "Family?"

"Family" said an energetic Sasuke

"Family" said a smirking Sai

'Yes!' Kari was dancing in her mind and she was smiling outwardly in pride at her boys for despite their age they just passed the most difficult test any human being can ever pass through if they hung onto this then nothing will get in their way and if it tried then they will annihilate it because the potential that these boys had plus their current determination then she did not think that anything will ever stop them not for a long time

"I am so proud of you boys so many other people would have simply accepted their fate and taken the easy way out but despite the fact that you guys are just five year olds you are officially part of some of the strongest people I have ever met and this is not a compliment I give out easily the only other people that I have said this too are the First, Second and Fourth Hokage alongside a certain redhead ninja who came from another country to stay here"

She gave Naruto a look that told him she was talking about his mother and that made him so proud to be their son

"And I just know that you three have what it takes to surpass each one of them" now that was a high compliment and it bolstered the boys in their devotion to their code that no matter what they won't give up not just for themselves now but to also make their Grandmother proud of them at the end from now on every challenge was a stepping stone that they were going to destroy. It was game time.

"Um Baa-chan I have a question"

"Of course Sai what is it?"

"Are you going to teach us how to use our weapons?"

"Why certainly Sai of course but we will do that after you have mastered your basics I will also be giving you drills that will help you in using your weapons firstly how to draw them with speed and accuracy and put them back in the same way"

'_I wish I had a weapon like that'_

"**Why?"**

'_Oh hello Kyu I just wish I had a weapon like that so that they don't think I am beneath them or something and thus have to subconsciously protect me and also if I had weapons like that I will have something that is not your chakra to fall back on'_

"**Is it that you don't ever want to use my chakra?"**

'_What no I just don't want to unless you allow me and I don't want to have to rely on you all the time I need to carry my own weight you know and not cruise through life on your back it does not sound fair to me'_

Kyuubi looked at his container with shock **"are you sure that you are five years old?"**

Naruto laughed _'Yep I am five year old ttebayo, why do you ask?'_

"**You don't act like a five year old at all"**

'_Uh was that a compliment?'_

"**Hn"**

'_Thanks'_

"**I think I can help you out with your problem"**

'_What do you mean?'_

"**I have a weapon that you can use, I made it a long time ago before I was sealed in Mito I still have an idea of where it is but if you channel a small amount of my chakra out then I can summon it to you"**

'_Really?'_ thought an excited Naruto

"**Ah but ningen if you misuse my weapon I will make your life a living hell"**

'_I understand I promise I won't'_

"**Hn you should probably warn your friends about what is about to happen they are starting to get annoyed that you are ignoring them"**

"Eh"

"What the hell dobe did your brain shut down or something?"

"Naruto what happened?"

"Sorry Baa-chan I was talking to Kyu he said he wants to give me a weapon but in order for him to summon it then I need to channel a small amount of his chakra"

"Sweet, do it dobe this way I won't have to hold back when I fight you"

'_Alright Kyu go for it wait does your weapon have a weapon have a name?'_

"**No"**

'_Can I name it?'_

"**Hn. Sure why not"**

'_Thanks okay go'_

Now that he was not pissed off he could see why Kyuubi's chakra was so feared the sheer amount of hatred that was coming off such a small amount of chakra was staggering his features did not change though his eyes got a tint darker now instead of sapphire blue it now looked like a light mixture of red and sapphire blue it was weird but other than that nobody sensed anything except Kari who lightly shivered

Nothing happened for a while Sasuke almost spoke up before the ground shook and a sword flew out heading straight for Naruto who was wide eyed and frozen in his steps the sword amazingly however stopped an inch away from his face still in its sheath

It was a katana but it wasn't curved like a normal style katana it was straight with a blood red sheath that had flames dancing on the surface and a fox lying in the middle of the storm, the head and pommel was white with no intricate design whatsoever.

_'So what can it do?'_

**"That is for you to find out but I will tell you that just like Sai's Bo staff is earth related and Sasuke's blade is lightning related your sword is both fire and wind related"**

_'I think I know what to call it'_

He then reached out and grabbed the sword and said "Arashi no ken"

**"Storm Blade huh I like it"**

_'Me too'_

"Hmm excellent weapon Naruto-kun"

"Thanks Baa-chan"

"Alright you guys can take today off training starts first thing tomorrow"

The boys of course took off to go and play with their weapons Sai upon looking found a griffin on his Bo staff, Sasuke's sword had a leviathan on the blade itself and Naruto's of course had a fox on his a nine tailed fox.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Two days later

Kakashi was waiting for Fugaku to come he had sent him a message saying that he wanted to see him before the council meeting which was in an hour and after what Kari told him yesterday about the clan he didn't know if he could handle this properly

_Flashback_

"Come in"

"Hello Kashi-kun, how are you?"

"Ah hello Kari-san I am okay just finishing up on the morning's paperwork"

"Yikes paperwork Kami I hate paperwork"

"You and me both, why do I even have to do this can't we find a trustworthy person to handle this?"

Kari chuckled "you know why we can't do that besides see it as training for your wrist"

Kakashi shook his head "yeah so what can I do for you?"

"How many times have you had to say that since you started sitting in that chair?"

"One times too many"

Kari smirked "do you always like the response?"

"Let's just say that I have a new found respect for Hokage's patience"

The response made them both share a laugh "anyway I want you to know what you are up against when it comes to the Uchiha clan"

"Yes Sandaime-sama already briefed me"

"Good but I think if you are going to do this properly then you need to know the whole story"

Kakashi sat up straight and narrowed his eyes "I am not going to like this am I?"

"I cannot promise that you will. That clan's problems reach far deeper and darker than Sarutobi told you and if something is not done then we may be looking at a civil war at best"

"At best?" asked a shocked Kakashi "civil wars are serious Kari-san"

"Believe me Kakashi you need to hear this"

"Every instinct in my body is telling me that I don't want to but you are right for the period in which I am sitting in this chair I will need all the information that I need so go ahead I'm all hears"

"Okay Sarutobi must have told you about the part that the past Hokages and he played in the matter correct?"

"Hai"

"Well there is more to the story you see the Uchiha did not support Madara by any chance as a matter of fact they were pro-Senju that was actually one of the main reasons that Madara attacked the First like he did, Madara's actions were the actions of an individual not a clan but of course in typical human fashion we blamed them simply because the First did not trust them and Madara was gone so we couldn't blame him for anything and the following Hokage's followed in their footsteps as Sarutobi told you

However the clan was hurt that the people that they had stood by did not stand by them you see the clan is cursed Kakashi they all have a stronger yang than the average person which makes it harder for them to fight the darkness inside of them especially since we had turned our backs against them for the sin of someone else. Another thing you should remember is their sharingan takes images that it sees and it then sticks in their memory so if they saw a bloodbath and their sharingan was on when they saw it then they will be plagued by it

I did not like them at all not because of what Madara did or even because of their stronger yang I did not like them because instead of fighting to prove us wrong they retreated into themselves and became what you know them to be today

Listen Kakashi that clan is part of this village and it is high time we showed them how much no more distrust they are a child of the village a child that has been ignored and disliked for far too long you and Sarutobi took the first step the appointments will help delay any drastic thinking but now you need to cement it and continue to cement it but whatever you do don't show them favouritism that will give them a big head and then we will have a bigger problem on their hands. The fate of the village rests on your shoulder Kakashi. Don't favour them but don't ignore them they are just as important as any clan here you hear me?"

He could feel her KI and he knew she was dead serious about this "I will do my best"

She stood up and leaned on the desk "I did not ask you to try and do your best I am telling you that if you fail then the village as a whole goes straight to hell so again I ask did you understand what I said?"

Kakashi was starting to feel the weight of his response on his shoulders and it made him want to run but he couldn't he had made a promise to Obito and he was going to keep it so taking a deep breath he relaxed all the muscles in his body and looked Kari right in the eye "You can count on me"

After scanning him and making sure that he understood exactly what she was telling him to do she nodded "good thank you Kashi-kun you have relieved me"

"I am glad thank you for telling me so how do you think I should deal with this?"

"The only way that you can; believe in yourself and in your whole village you are the Hokage after all"

"Yes but this is only temporary when Hokage-sama comes back he will take over"

Kari looked at him like he was crazy then like he was a child who had been promised that the world was once made out of candy "I see well good luck then"

"Wait why are you looking at me like that this is temporal"

"Yea yeah I am sure it is"

"Your tone why the tone" at this point Kakashi was freaking out big time

"Don't worry I am very sure when the Hokage comes back he will take over"

She said it so sincerely that Kakashi believed her "well good bye Kashi-kun" and with that she left but when she closed the door she whispered "oh you poor unsuspecting kid"

_Flashback end_

Knock. Knock.

"Come in" _'well it is now or never'_

Fugaku walked in and stood at the door then closed it slowly well not that slow but slow enough for Kakashi to notice "I heard that you wanted to speak with me please have a seat"

"Thank you"

"You are welcome so what can I do for you?"

"Well first thing first it seems that you are different from the last time we spoke"

Kakashi was confused for a second before he suddenly remembered that he had a deal with the clan about taking out Naruto _'damn how could I have forgotten about that well I need to come clean'_

"Yes I am I have decided to give our topic the benefit of the doubt I don't hate him anymore I am willing to give him the chance and I now look at him as a five year old yes a very special five year old yes but a five year old no less"

"I see well does our previous discussion have something to do with my new appointment?"

'_Here we go believe I just need to believe' _

"No it does not I can assure you that since I came back from my leave I have completely forgotten our discussion until you brought it up"

"I see so my appointment why me?"

Kakashi finally saw what Kari and Sandaime-sama were talking about they want attention that is all they want attention in a positive light and above all the truth and that is what he was going to do

"I will not lie to you Uchiha-sama I did not have the best opinion of you clan I mean I considered you guys arrogant, jealous, and vicious and basically if I could avoid you guys all together then I will be okay but however one of your clansmen was my best friend Obito. I promised Obito that I will be the best I can be

It is because of Obito that I gave Naruto a second chance and it is also the reason that I want to do the same for the Uchiha clan because I want to believe that a clan that produced a hero like Obito is not that bad and so this is why I want to have you as my advisor because as someone who has been so ignored and relegated you have an eye that will help me in cleaning up the village because there are a lot of things that need cleaning up and I need an unbiased straight up and honest to Kami opinion"

"So this is not some ploy to make up for lost sins?"

"Oh it started out that way Sandaime-sama and I felt that it was time we started treating you better to keep you in line but I don't really care if you are in line or not if you want to leave you are free if you want to rebel you are also free however I need help and I need to remove any black-tinted glasses from my eyes because I have a lot to do"

"I see so I was chosen for my opinion?"

"You have seen sides of the village in colours that nobody else has seen but while it is within your right to be angry and vengeful I want to believe that you have the strength to look at your home anew and love it because while we are far from perfect we are all we got"

Fugaku turned on his sharingan and stared at Kakashi with hard eyes "do you trust us?"

"No I don't as a matter of fact I am expecting you guys to pull a classic Uchiha move and rebel, start a coup, or something like that but Kari Sozen gave me quite the talk yesterday about fairness so I am willing to see how this goes"

Fugaku then smiled and turned off his bloodline limit "very well then I look forward to working with you, Hokage-sama"

"Will you give the village and Naruto a chance?"

"Does my opinion matter?" meaning does what I say affect your opinion of me

"Absolutely I need an unbiased opinion not an anti-one"

"Then yes I am willing to give the village a chance"

"Excellent well we have a meeting to get to, shall we?"

"After you Hokage-sama"

At the council hall

They arrived quite early and sat down in their respective seats with Kakashi entering what has become his patent sitting posture and waited for the council to start up that took about thirty minutes the meeting was filled with the past members and the new ones and after the civilians had presented their representative then the old ones will leave and the new ones can stay then the meeting will begin, Koharu kept giving him a hot glare though and if not for his positions he would have stuck his tongue out at her but that would be inappropriate damn

"So does the civilian council have their representatives ready?"

"Yes we have Hokage-sama we chose Danzo-sama as our civilian representative and Koharu-sama as our advisor"

'_Why am I not surprised'_ "Very well then shall the people of the outgoing council that are not supposed to be here please leave"

"Good now then this document I will pass around are met to be signed by the people seated then we can continue"

"What is it for?" asked a snide Koharu

'_Screw it'_ "If causing trouble is what you are here for then please leave or better still shut up so that we can move on because if you wait to see the document your questions will be answered just because the council chose you does not make you untouchable I am the Hokage so if I don't like you then you are gone, do we understand each other woman?"

"Hai Hokage-sama" she said those words like they were a curse that should never cross her mind let alone her lips but Kakashi just ignored her but Danzo was impressed and so where the other people in the room

'_Finally'_ thought Tsume

After signing their names on the document effectively legally asserting this new council Kakashi sealed it and kept it he did not give it to anyone to deliver to the archive because he did no trust Danzo to just seat still and let it go without sending someone to use the paper to his advantage

"Alright oh good afternoon to you all I hope you all had a nice day, excellent now the first matter of discussion will be the Academy both the ones for the Shinobi and the one for the civilian and for the civilian academy can the civilian reps please give us a briefing on exactly what the structure is like for those of us that don't know how a civilian academy is run I only found out when I took the hat"

Everybody looked at Danzo and Koharu in expectation only to get silence Danzo was stone-faced as usual and Koharu was flustered and could not speak. The house kept waiting in awkward silence even Kakashi did not how you can come up to represent someone and not know anything about the one you are representing I mean who does that?

"Uh okay why don't we deal with the civilian academy in the next meeting shall we? Does anybody know how the Shinobi academy is run?"

More awkward silence 'what the hell is this?'

"Okay tell you guys what this council is new so why don't we meet again in about three days and then we can look at the various topics like the academies will be the topic of discussion in three days' time so on that note have a wonderful day and I will see you all in three days"

Everybody cleared out with variant levels of blushes on their faces Fugaku however stayed behind until after everyone had left then he turned to the Hokage "nicely done"

"Was it because I kind of feel like I just embarrassed my entire council I just hope they don't think that I did it on purpose because I did not"

"They won't and even if they do you just reminded everyone that we have been slacking and we need to pick it up from now on"

"I sure hope so because I was quite surprised that nobody knew how the Shinobi council is run I mean the civilian council yes but not the Shinobi one"

"Well they will surely know now"

"Well good day Uchiha-sama"

"You too Hokage-sama"

ROOT Headquarters

"Damn that stupid arrogant child! Who does he think he is?" Koharu exclaimed as she paced Danzo's office with Hotaru and Danzo present "did you see how he treated us like we had no idea what we are doing? Where was that child when we won the First and Second World War huh? How dare he disrespect us like that? He must die we must kill him"

"We are not killing him" said Danzo who was calm as he said this which only pissed Koharu even more

"What do you mean that we are not killing him are you mad?"

"Killing him is not the option we have an opportunity here and we are going to be patient and take it"

Koharu wanted to go for Danzo's neck and strangle him "that boy now has somehow gotten the Uchiha on his side or did you not notice through that one eye of yours?"

Hotaru said "Koharu maybe you should calm down"

This time she really grabbed him by the neck and began to squeeze "calm down you want me to calm down I will calm down when I snap your neck in half!"

"Koharu enough" ordered Danzo causing her to drop Hotaru on his backside "listen to me I feel just as much as you do about this but we must take caution in handling this matter it is obvious that Sarutobi is the puppeteer and Kakashi is just a puppet"

"Yes but that puppet is now getting a risky amount of respect from the council not to mention that with the new council he has effectively killed our influence and with the way he is going he is going to ruin us"

"No he won't he is doing exactly what we need him to do"

"Have you gone senile Danzo how is any of this helping us?"

"Simple we want the village to be stronger and he is doing that"

"So what we are just going to sit back and let him do all the hard work of getting the village together again and then what?"

"From now on we will become Kakashi's strongest supporter"

"No I will never support that bastard I rather shove my hair pin down his eye"

"You will support him through everything until he and the entire village consider us to be second in command while we do this Hotaru will focus on sowing rumours in the surrounding villages that will discredit Kakashi and thus Sarutobi but you will keep them harmless for now. I will start building my ROOT army to the point where not even Konoha can stop us then we will leave the village by leave I mean one of us will 'mess up' and Kakashi will banish us unjustly"

"What will that do?"

"It will make Kakashi appear incompetent and unforgiving for banishing his strongest support group it will shake the belief his followers have in him at which point we will start increasing the harm the rumours bring as well as recently discovered 'evidence' to support it and when Konoha is ripe for a rebellion we will come in as Kakashi's support again and when he rejects us the people will rebel and they will call for a new leader and who better than the friend that was so carelessly tossed aside"

"And what if they don't want us?"

"Simple then we will be in charge of whoever they pick and the council and then since Kakashi's friends and Sarutobi's friends will stick with them then they will be the ones that are banished and then we will use our new army to decimate one of Konoha's enemies a small level one just to cement our place and then when we have settled in then we will start to make our changes"

"That sounds like a long term plan Danzo"

"And we have the advantage of our bodies so time is not a problem we will be alive as long as our chakra remains strong"

"I like it although what if they find out that we are playing them?"

"Of course they will find out they are soft not stupid but they won't be able to prove anything and they will seem paranoid to anyone that they talk to"

"So what should we do?"

"In front of the whole council in three days you will give a heartfelt and sincere apology to Kakashi that the council will believe"

"I would rather die"

"Then that can be arranged but you must do this just think of the benefits of it"

"He won't believe it"

"He doesn't need to believe it we only need the council to believe it and then that will give us the space that we need to make our place amongst Kakashi's inner circle"

Koharu did not like it not one bit but Danzo was right if you want to move up a level you are supposed to sacrifice something and right now that something was her pride "promise me that I will get to kill him and I will do it"

"I promise"

"Fine I will apologize to the fucker"

"Language Koharu-chan"

Koharu turned with her eyes blazing at Hotaru and said in a demonic voice as her body grew to impossible heights "what was that?"

"Nothing Koharu-sama"

The freaky expansion ended "that's what I thought"

Danzo simply ignored them both _'you have upped your game Sarutobi but no matter I always get what I want you have only delayed the inevitable I will rule Konoha and the entire world will bow to me as it should or face my wrath'_

At Kari's home

The boys were about ready to drop, their bodies were screaming in pain Sasuke was aching in places that he didn't know he could ache in Sai was struggling to breath and surprised that he was not unconscious yet Naruto on the other hand was on the floor eagle spread and he kept moaning like a zombie with a hangover

The reason for their pain was standing in front of them with a sadistic smile on her face "aw you boys are not exhausted yet are you we have so much more to do"

"Evil you are evil Baa-chan plain and simple" said Sasuke

"Oh come on it was not that bad was it?"

Naruto stood up in anger "not bad it was not bad? Woman you had us do a hundred push ups and ninety sit ups after which we had to climb a tree and do fifty chin ups"

Sai continued in the same annoyed tone "then you made us kick a tree with our right and left legs two hundred times each and do the same amount with our hands then you had us run around the entire two acres of your estate ten times plus an extra five making fifteen!"

"Then as if that was not enough you would throw kunai at us randomly and if we didn't dodge it then we will get injured but we will not be allowed to stop otherwise you will throw more!" finished Sasuke

Let us just say that the boys were not amused by the it was not that bad statement but Kari was seriously impressed with their stamina I mean she expected that Naruto will be hard to put down but she was so sure that Sai and Sasuke would not be able to reach half of what they did and as for the kunai throwing their blades healed their wounds after the weapon was removed

But damn just damn she did not expect her boys to be so resilient I mean for all their complaining none of them stopped to say that they quit half way no they finished a workout that will knock out Shinobis a lot more older than them but I mean they were standing and coherent of what they were saying and hearing meaning that they still have some things still left in the tank and that was damn impressive

"Alright it is 12pm so that means it is lunch time so you boys go have a shower you are dripping with sweat then meet me in the kitchen I will have lunch ready after which you will be given till 2pm to catch your breath however before you go and have your bath I want you to do a fifteen minute stretch it will help you here are drawings of what I want you to do and just so you know if you don't there is a very good tendency that your muscles will become very stiff and painful so begin and I will see you later"

As she left the boys started their stretching Naruto in the middle of a bend said "Kami I thought I was going to die when we finished no I swear I thought I saw a light"

"You and me both dobe Kami I almost thought it would never end at one point I was glad that she was chugging kunai at us it reminded me that I am still alive"

"Yeah believe me I hear you guys I actually had to put my face against a tree and blow just to make sure that I was still breathing and at one point I could have sworn that my vision tripled and I was flying"

They all laughed but then Sai said "look guys this is training and we promised to never give up right?"

"Yeah we did and we are not going to give up because of a few physicals"

"Yeah and do you guys know how strong we will be when we can do triple of this without breaking a sweat?"

"Naruto let us not get ahead of ourselves here"

"But you know he is right we are already far tougher than anyone our age group because we survived Kari-sensei's hell training"

"I know and who knows who we have to fight against next time we need all the improvements we can get"

"True that but we are still going to complain to the end right?" said Naruto

"Hell yeah" replied the boys

"I thought you didn't cuss Sai" said Naruto

"Yeah you are always giving us a hard time when we cuss"

"Look I just think that you guys cuss too much I did not say that you should not cuss at all"

"You have an answer to everything don't you?"

"I try"

Sasuke shook his head while Naruto rolled his eyes "alright fifteen minutes is up"

"Hold up black hole only five minutes have passed"

"What but I am hungry ttebayo"

"What else is new?"

"Screw you Sasuke"

"Language"

"You too Sai ugh"

Ten seconds later

"Is it time yet?"

"No we still have nine minutes left"

"Okay"

Ten seconds later

"Is it time yet?"

"No dobe not yet"

"Tch fine"

Forty seconds later

"Is it time now?"

"No Naruto it is not time yet"

One minute later

"It has to be time now right?"

"No dobe it is not time yet"

"Oh man I am hungry"

"We know"

Naruto sighed and bent down to check the next stretch

Two minutes later

"Oh come on it has to be time now"

"No it is not time yet Naruto"

Sasuke however had developed a twitch in his eyes because of Naruto's questioning _'why can't he shut up?'_

Two minutes later

"Is it time now?"

"No dobe it is not time yet"

"Oh come on guys it is has to be time by now we have been stretching forever"

"It is not yet time damn it"

"Sai please it has to be time now"

'_Don't kill him, don't kill him, don't kill him'_ Sasuke was doing everything in his power to stop his hand from reaching for Yamato and lobbing Naruto's head off

"Guys, is it time now?"

"That's it you are dead dobe"

Sasuke reached for Yamato and drew it from its sheath but before he could attack Sai said "stop it is time"

Naruto threw his hands in the air in relief "finally" he then ran inside to get a shower and head to the kitchen for lunch leaving a frustrated Sasuke behind with Sai trying to calm him down

"Everybody has a little brother Sasuke and Naruto is ours and we need to take care of him"

Sasuke breathed in and relaxed his muscles "you are right but that won't stop me from slapping him upside on the head every now and then when he deserves it"

Sai smirked "how else are we going to monitor the growth of that big head of his"

Sasuke laughed "yeah his head is pretty big"

The brothers shared a laugh as they went to their individual rooms to shower and change then head to the kitchen

Two hours later

The boys were doing their individual things in living room as part of their chilling process; Sasuke was reading a book, Sai was drawing, and Naruto was busy reading a comic book. Kari first of all stood in the living room hallway and waited for one of them to notice her so as to check their awareness level to know when something in their environment has changed

For two minutes nobody moved and Kari was disappointed and about to tell them that before Naruto stiffened so she decided to wait and see what comes next then Naruto raised his head up from the floor and a second after he did Sai and Sasuke did the same thing

"What's up Baa-chan?"

Sai was the one who checked the time "oh wow it is 2pm guys training time"

"Alright ttebayo let's go"

As she watched them go she honestly could not be prouder of her boys they were really something special and she was not at all sure that the world was ready for them yet because those boys are going to change history she just hoped that she could prepare them well enough for the challenges that they had ahead of them

Meanwhile the boys were already psyching themselves for what they expected to be hell training so they waited for Kari to come out and start the training hoping that they can survive this one or at least last till it was over because truthfully they were scared of what she planned this time

"Alright like I already told you boys we will be working on your mastering of the academy three now Sai since you already know this I want you to help your brothers learn how to do it and when they have it down come meet me by the lake and I will take it from there, okay?"

"Hai Kari-sensei"

"Good I will you see boys in a few"

As she left Sai turned to his brothers and struck a lecturer pose somehow conjuring up a blackboard, a chalk and a long ruler shocking his students Naruto turned to Sasuke "where did he get the blackboard from?"

Any possible response was cancelled when Sai struck the blackboard with his ruler "silence students"

"Students?" whispered Sasuke

"I think he is losing it ttebayo"

"I said silence now then we have a few things that we will treat today"

"Uh I have a question?"

"Yes Uzumaki?"

"Where did you get all this stuff from?"

"Yeah what he said especially the blackboard everything else can fit in your pocket"

"Quiet no more silly questions understood? Good"

"We did not say that we understand" whispered Sasuke

"Let's just listen we can ask later"

"Now we are going to be studying the academy three now the reason that they are called the academy three is because at the moment there are only three ninjustu techniques that are taught in the academy there were a lot more than that in fact over thirty years ago the academy taught over a dozen techniques to their students but that was probably because we were in a war at that time so the village needed its Genin to be stronger and better that is not to say that we have weaker Genin now in time of peace it is just that the eras are different for clarification let us consider the different eras that we have…"

"I knew Sai was an encyclopaedia of information but why the hell is all of this important to us?"

"I think he just likes to hear him talk so we should pretend to listen to his long speech for now at least"

Ten minutes later Naruto was now sure of two things; one was that Sai was an encyclopaedia of useless information I mean why the hell would he care to know the history of drawing in Konoha in relation to the creation of Henge in the mind of great thinkers and two that Sai really liked to hear himself talk I mean really hear loved to hear himself talk and if they did not shut him up then he will talk their ear off

"Uh Sai you were supposed to teach us how to do the Henge, Kawarimi and Bushin not give us the history of it we can learn that later"

"Yeah or probably never so can we get down to it"

Sai looked at them and then blushed in embarrassment "yeah sorry guys um how about I just show you the hand signs for the techniques but before that I will make this short the Henge focuses on basically copying an appearance that you have seen, the Kawarimi allows you to lock on to a log and change positions with it and the Bushin allows you to make a copy of yourself so focus on that these are the hand signs" after showing them the hand signs he expected them to get it the first time after all the things that they are been through in the last week this should be a walk a in the park

He was wrong. The Henge was as he expected a cinch for Sasuke and Naruto and the Kawarimi was slightly harder for them but after about twenty minutes they had it down to pat so at this point when it came to Henge and Kawarimi they were all on the same level but that was when the easy streak ends the Bushin had both Sasuke and Naruto stumped. Naruto more so than Sasuke because while Sasuke could at least create a clone even though it looked horrible Naruto only cause smoke it was frustrating

"Gah damn it why can't I do it even teme is making a clone even though it looks like it is ready to commit suicide"

"Ha, Ha, Ha real funny dobe at least I am not creating a smoke screen"

"Guys focus this is actually the easiest of the academy three"

"Yeah not helping Mr History class" quipped Sasuke

"How much chakra does it need?" asked Naruto

"A tiny bit that's all the Bushin only needs you to sacrifice a drop in the bucket"

"Yeah but then how in the hell are we supposed to know how much a drop is"

"I don't know I guess you are going to have to just keep reducing the amount of chakra you are using until you get it"

"**Your friend does know that with your current chakra pool and the level of control you have over it that it is impossible for you to get a drop out of it unless you increase your control otherwise you are wasting your time"**

"Uh guys Kyu said that with my current chakra pool and control the Bushin is a waste of time and I should stop trying"

Sai then looked at Sasuke "well he may be right Sasuke that will also explain why you can't get it either"

"Yeah guys but Baa-chan said we should only meet her when we are done and I don't think she would like it if we cut our training short just because it is hard"

"You heard Kyu Naruto it is not hard it is impossible besides we are not giving up we will keep trying just smarter this time when you and Sasuke get your control up a bit we will try again"

Naruto did not like it but he followed Sasuke and Sai to the lake where Kari was waiting for them when Kari saw them she said

"Let me guess they learnt everything but the Bushin right?"

Naruto was shocked "Wait how do you know that?"

"Easy you have a bijuu inside of you and Sasuke is capable of performing a C rank technique I definitely would have been shocked if either one of you had gotten the technique down"

"Aw man now I really wish we had gotten the technique down then we can shock you of course"

Kari laughed "I am sure you would like that Naruto-kun but don't worry there is plenty of time to prove me wrong besides the Bushin is not a technique that I will call important no offense Sai-kun"

"None taken Kari-sensei so what are we going to learn now?"

"Well the end product is that I want you boys to be able to transform into anything and substitute yourself with anything and anyone in the blink of an eye without using seals or creating so much as a pop"

Sasuke liked that and so did Sai "if we can do that then that means we would be able to avoid any attack if we are fast enough and not to mention blend anywhere"

Naruto surprisingly saw an angle to this that his brothers did not "wait if the Kawarimi implies dodging and the Henge implies hiding how are you going to teach us that?"

"Hide and seek of course"

The boys were confused even Sai did not get it but one thing that they agreed on was the feeling that they were going to regret asking for clarification but Sai knew that they needed to know what they were going up against so he opened the Pandora's Box

"Would you care to explain what you mean by that Kari-sensei?"

"Oh of course Sai-kun what that simply means is that I will stay here and you boys will use your Henge to hide from me and when you see me I want you to use the Kawarimi to hide again and we will continue you to do this until I say stop"

Naruto shrugged as did Sasuke and Sai he then said "that does not sound so bad I love hide and seek"

Kari then smiled in a sadistic way that made the boys scared Sasuke of course turned to Naruto "you just had to open your big mouth didn't you?"

"Shut up Sasuke how was I supposed to know that there will be more to it"

"Oh I don't know maybe by remembering this morning's training perhaps?"

"Fuck you teme"

"Boys, boys calm down this training will be relatively simpler than the one we had this morning all you have guys have to do is hide from me and keep yourself from getting hurt"

Sai raised an eyebrow at that "wait keep ourselves from getting hurt from what exactly?"

"Well from kunais, shurikens and senbon needles that I will be throwing at you every time I find you and the rules are you can only avoid and hide and you will not stop until I say so, is that understood?"

Naruto was already shaking "um you will go easy on us right?"

Kari smirked like a demon "Sure I will so you boys have ten seconds to go hide"

Sai decided to buy his brothers some time to get their mind right and for Naruto to stop panicking "um Kari-sensei what are we going to do during the night session?"

Kari knew exactly why he was asking but she could understand and this will make sure that she didn't have to explain a second time so she humoured Sai "well I will have you guys focus more on your tree climbing and when you get it down on the level that I want you to with the ability to do it in your sleep while having a nightmare then we will move onto water walking which is like tree walking during which of course you will be instructed to get to the same level before we move on and yes things will be thrown at you guys but don't worry it won't be kunai, shuriken or senbon it will be arrows. Oh yes I forgot during both this training session and the next one you may block the things throw at you with your weapons I mean Force Edge, Yamato and Arashi but you must draw it per projectile and return it immediately if you use it for more than one at a draw then I will make you regret it"

The boys gulped Naruto squeaked "we are dead yep we are all going to die a horrible, horrible death"

Sai and Sasuke were too terrified to say a word hell they were too scared to blink especially since Kari smiled that sick smile of hers "okay boys now your ten seconds start now" and with that she produced a kunai and flung it at them which sent them running_ 'ah I had forgotten how much fun it is to be a sadistic sensei'_ and with that hunting season begun

Three days later

Kakashi was in the council chamber wondering what today's meeting will hold I mean the two previous ones had been quite eventful so he was actually hoping for some excitement today signing paperwork all day gets boring very quickly and he was looking forward to having some fun but hopefully it will be something that he can handle because if he let his lead slip then he was in big trouble with Danzo

'_I wonder what is taking Sandaime-sama so long to get here I mean it has been a week since he left and yet he is not back yet this job is way too hard for me to handle and the scary thing is that now my thoughts are occupied with Hokage stuff I mean I won't even be here for long so why am I even planning so far'_

Shaking his head he decided to just go with the flow for now hoping that he does not start to actually like this job because then he would give the Sandaime a perfect reason to give him the position permanently and that will suck real fast, the entrance of Fugaku brought him out of his thoughts

"Morning Hokage-sama"

"Good morning Uchiha-sama I trust you had an excellent night"

"Hai if I may Hokage-sama I have a question"

"Of course go ahead"

"I and three other people were appointed as your advisors what exactly is our post because so far it has not been made clear"

'_That is because the person who came up with the idea is not here to explain it but I know that if I don't give Fugaku an answer now it will come back to bite me later since I will be showing inconsistency by not having a plan for the advisors or the council wait a minute yes that may just work'_

"To be honest with you Uchiha-sama I did not expect all this to have been done so fast so by the time the new council was made all the plans I had were the ones about the academies I must confess that after that I got nothing"

Fugaku smiled "I admire your honesty Hokage-sama and if you don't have plans that is enough reason to send for your advisors so that they can advise you on what to do next, a village this big cannot be run by one mind alone Hokage-sama"

Kakashi was impressed he was expecting Fugaku to look at him with at least disappointment for not having all the answers and he said so "I was afraid that if I called a meeting you especially would have been disappointed that your so called leader does not have any plans for his village. I mean I like the rapport that we are sharing but you have always come across to me as a hard man who will not take anything lying down"

Fugaku lowered his eyes because he knew that was what his children had in mind when they thought of or looked at him but while before he had told himself that it was for the benefit of the clan right now with the way things are going it may be that the clan's reputation and the pressure the Elders are putting on him will reduce and then maybe he could reconnect with his boys again

'_If they will still have me especially Sasuke Kami I really messed that one up I can't wait for those damn Elders and their influence to die at least then I will have an element of peace in my own damn house instead of making my home unbearable for myself and my kids thank Kami for Mikoto otherwise I would have lost it a long time ago'_

"You would be right in your assumption of my personality Hokage-sama but I was not always this hard and while I will like it if you had plans for the village that you are ruling I also know that it is better in cases like this to seek help and win rather than to fail on your own because the collateral damage will be spectacular"

Kakashi smirked, "spectacular indeed Uchiha-sama spectacular indeed"

The men shared a short laugh and then proceeded to wait for the council to form so that the meeting could start _'hmm it seems Fugaku is not as bad as I once thought we could actually get along on some level'_ but then his mind started forming plans on what to do as regards the village and his advisors but that was not his business I mean he was only here temporarily and the real Hokage was supposed to be back by now

'_But even if he isn't back yet Konoha is not my headache to lead that pain belongs to someone else but where is that person damn it I wonder if Fugaku would respect him like he does me wait how is that any of my business I should not even care about what happens after I am gone but isn't it partially my responsibility to you know make sure that things run smoothly after I leave but I don't want to be Hokage damn it'_ but his comfortable pose on the Hokage's seat in the council room was mocking him _'fuck me I am starting to like this? Gah I need to get out of here I could always come up with an excuse, I need to wash my dogs or something because I cannot stay here another second'_

"Hokage-sama" the sound of Koharu's voice forced him out of his thoughts not just because of the respectful title used but for its remorseful tone

"Yes?"

"I would like to apologize to you and the whole council for my behaviour recently I was out of line and blatantly disrespectful to everyone on the council and I ask that you accept my sincerest apologies power went to my head and I behaved far out of line I humbly accept all the ways to which you reminded me of that otherwise I am afraid of how much I would have embarrassed myself, I am deeply sorry Hokage-sama" and she bowed

Kakashi was speechless not because of the apology he knew it was bullshit after all he had gotten used to spinning bullshit since he became Hokage so he knew that she was faking it big time but the kicker was why. Koharu was pro-Danzo and a snake she would rather die a horrible death before she says that she is sorry especially on this scale "apology accepted you may sit down" it scared him

'_What could she hope to achieve by doing this I mean getting on my side is impossible she has to know that and this council will not be easily manipulated so she can't be trying to win favour after one bullshit apology so what the fuck is going on here?'_ he noticed that people were starting to look at him so he decided to think on this later

"Good morning everyone thank you for coming today now let us get down to business shall we? Will the civilian reps please tell us how the civilian academy is run so that we can go about knowing how to change it? Oh and please tell us about the Shinobi academy as well if you don't mind it became the civilian council's responsibility after the Kyuubi attack"

"Thank you Hokage-sama" Danzo's honest respectful tone almost made him end the council right now and declare a code black which means Konoha may be facing complete annihilation the last code black was the Kyuubi's attack and right now he was a push away from declaring another one but maybe that is what they want, to break him down so that he can make a mistake well they were going to have to try harder than that he is not the Hokage for no good reason after all

He of course will deny ever stating that he called himself the Hokage of Konoha

"The civilian council is run and operated in much of the same way that the Shinobi academy is run; I am talking about in levels that are dictated by age. Entrance into the civilian academy is done at the age of five were from ages five through to ten the children will be taught history, geography, calligraphy, maths and sciences, economics, social manners and ethics and lastly law. From ten all the way to eighteen the subjects become more detailed and complex and they are also taught the basics of trade and home making. After this level is passed the students are then allowed to choose their course of study by themselves where they will learn everything that there is to know about their favoured choice for four years to get the first level and ten years for the master level, now all these years can be done in a shorter time frame if the child is brilliant enough to pass the tests and exams given, graduation is done when a child has completed a set either five to ten, ten to eighteen, eighteen to twenty-two and so on

The Shinobi academy is different the levels are also divided by years the entrance is done at the parents or guardian's prerogative but the standard age is six at which the child is then taught the same things that the five to ten children in the civilian academy learn that learning continues to their last day in the academy. However unlike in the civilian academy the children also learn about chakra and it's uses they are also taught basic chakra control exercises, they learn about the Shinobi laws and customs, they also have practical courses on weapons training, ninjustu hence the academy three and the academy taijutsu all of this come together to form a solid foundation for the students after which their Jounin senseis take over their studies and the students are also advised to better themselves as not everything can be taught"

"Thank you Danzo-sama does anyone have anything to add to what he just said or any oppositions? Nothing okay then does anyone have any suggestions on how we can improve either academies?"

"I do Hokage-sama" said the ANBU commander

"Very well then Lion what is it?"

"I will like the Shinobi academy to train their students on stealth and tracking"

"Okay that is definitely important we will take that on board" with that Kakashi pulled out a notebook and started writing on it "anyone else have any more suggestions?"

"Hai Hokage-sama" said Chouza "will it be possible that they also learn about nutrition"

"Hmm yes Akimichi-sama it is they need to know what to eat and what not to eat so that they can better themselves on long missions especially so we will add that. Anyone else have anything to add?"

"It will be an asset if they are taught how to behave when on missions especially in hostile territories or in the presence of high officials" instructed Hiashi

"Yes so that they don't unknowingly cause an international incident good one Hyuuga-sama"

"May I?" asked Tsume

"Of course"

"I think that we should somehow find a way to teach the pups an edge because they are civilians among them who don't have a clan library to rely on those ones that are struggling should not just be discarded"

Kakashi nodded "Hai we never leave a man behind no matter what okay anything else?"

"Um I have an idea" said Aimi the head of the medical department in the village

"Then let us hear it"

"Can they also learn the basics of medical jutsu as well?"

"Definitely it will reduce the number of dead Genin that we are having and it will give them a bit of variety that may very well save their lives someday my teammate was a medic Nin and Kami knows how many times she saved my life"

"I have a concern Hokage-sama" said Danzo

"Yes?"

"Who is going to teach the students all these and in what time frame they are packed as it is"

"Well I have a plan for that, so don't worry, I actually need more ideas so anyone got anything?"

"Troublesome can they learn strategy as well?" three guesses who

"Absolutely okay so anything else?"

Nobody spoke up "alright now Danzo raised a very good point but before we start making changes nobody said anything about the civilian academy so if you think that the academy is good as it is please raise your hand" everyone but Shibi Aburame

"Okay Aburame-sama, do you suggestions to improve the civilian academy?"

"Hai I think just because they are civilians does not mean that they can't learn the basics of Shinobi lifestyle like chakra unlocking and how to hold a weapon and then if they show interest or skill then they are taken into the Shinobi program why you ask because it will give them variety"

"I absolutely agree with him so first of all we will add Shinobi training to the civilian academy curriculum that way any child who is perhaps interested but has parents or guardians with hard standards can also be advised to let their kids do what they want to do and vice-versa if a child in the Shinobi academy is deemed unfit not because of what he or she can or cannot do but because he or she has expressed his dislike for being there or was forced to attend and cannot be convinced otherwise then that child will be transferred to the civilian academy, I want to train people in places that they want to be otherwise I am asking for half efforts and that will not do us any good, agreed?"

Everyone nodded yes including Danzo and Koharu it was starting to freak Kakashi out "okay so who knows about what the Shinobis in reserve do for a living I mean the retired and injured ones"

Nobody knew so they looked at Danzo and Koharu and Koharu felt a little insulted by the looks but she simply smiled and said that she didn't know Danzo was stone-faced as usual at least that has not changed Kakashi knew that he will have a meltdown if he ever saw Danzo crack a smile _'I don't think he can'_

"Well they have been in a state of joblessness for far too long these are our people, people who have given their all in support for their village and I did my research and I have found that most of them are living below any acceptable standard meaning below my acceptable standard for people who have given their lives for this village so in other words they will be the ones in charge of teaching the students in the academy this will also increase our work force since our Chunin will no longer will be working at the academy, is that okay by everyone?"

"I have a concern Hokage-sama" said Inoichi

"Yes?"

"The students are already used to their Chunin teachers having new faces may not be good for them moreover the reserve Shinobi may not be mentally and emotionally capable when it comes to training children no offense but they have been in reserve for a while now and the sudden change in environment may do more harm than good for both them and the students"

"I thought of that that is why the decisions of who gets to teach what will be decided by you and me so that way we can evaluate their personalities to the class that they will take but as for the sudden change in environment we are training Shinobis so sudden change in environment is part of the job description so they will have to get used to it okay?"

"Hai Hokage-sama"

"I am not without sympathy but I want them to be as prepared as possible"

"I understand Hokage-sama"

"Very well then, so is there any part of the current curriculum of either academy that anyone wants to change or have removed"

The reason Kakashi was asking was because they were some parts of the Shinobi academy's curriculum that he did not like at all, flower arrangement for example or the fact that the students were treated like kids up until their graduation day when the worst exam takes place he knew that in the eyes of the council at the time that the current exam was sufficient enough but it was not and it needed to be changed now but first he wanted to see if anyone will be able to pick out anything else in the system to show that they did their research

"I would like it if I am told why the kids are learning the same things as the civilians?" asked the Hunter Nin commander now he and Tsume ran the Hunter Nin program with him being in charge of running and Tsume in charge of training the recruits that came in and sometimes the members since a lot of them were from her clan

"Danzo would you care to answer that please"

"Of course it is so that in case they decided to become civilians or were injured or deemed too unstable to remain Shinobis then they will have enough knowledge so that they can land on their feet instead of simply stumbling around hopelessly or simply sitting on their hands"

"But how many of them actually use the knowledge impacted on them in ratio to the ones who either never use them or don't even need them" he asked

"It is not used by a lot of people because many of them are too lazy to use the things that they have been taught but the few who actually did went on to be quite successful"

"What is the difference between the two sets of people?" this time Kakashi asked because he saw an opportunity that he was not going to miss

"One of them is more determined than the other"

"So we can argue that the determined ones will succeed with or without the learning that they did in the academy and the extra books learnt will not make the lazy ones more determined anyway"

"Yes I suppose that argument will work but we owe it to our people to give them that soft base to land on when life as a Shinobi doesn't work out"

"I know that is why I spent all night working on a building plan _'bullshit'_ it was supposed to be a place that will be used to help people find their feet after losing it kind of like a rehabilitation centre this works for the Shinobis who are deemed unfit to be in a profession that they wanted to be in, moreover I also feel that there is a level of theory that is needed by a child who is training to be a Shinobi and the amount of theory that is currently taught to the students in the Shinobi academy as far as I am concerned is too much. The current Shinobi academy is what I picture as a civilian academy"

"Hokage-sama we need to be careful in how we train our students the other villages may think that we are gunning for war" cautioned Danzo

Kakashi smirked "I am assuring everyone here that I am not looking to start a war I lost far too much in the last war that I am definitely not in any hurry to start a new one"

"Then what do you want Hokage-sama?" asked Koharu

"One thing and one thing only; I want my village to be one that is not stagnant it is hard to get to the top of the ladder in terms of us being the strongest village among the Elemental Nations but it will require determination and us constantly improving ourselves to stay there not just in terms of our military strength but in terms of our economy which is running on fumes right now or our culture, I am a young man so I have been around the grapevine in the village and outside of it and the blunt truth is that we have become a relic that our neighbouring towns are expecting to collapse due to disunity or stagnancy within the next 50 years if that"

"Who is saying such things?"

"Obviously I am not going to say who because they are right, look at the village we preach how the Will of Fire is a binding spirit and will that joins the whole village together but when was the last time you saw it, let us not even go far right here and now how many of you are thinking about the complete welfare of the person sitting next to you not because you have known them your whole life but because they belong to the same village as you do

Because I don't care I just want to get out of here but I should not feel that way I should want to be here but I don't I should love you people with all my heart but yet I am struggling to even trust you.

But that should not be the case when I was a child even though I was born in war time whenever my father left on a mission there were people to take care of me they did not do it because of who my father was but because there was a child who did not have anyone and he should not have to be alone. They did not want me to be by myself so they took me in and took care of me

Can we honestly look at our village and say that we have that sense of community that we once had because I loved that village it made me feel safe, protected, loved and it inspired me to be the best that I can be not for my family name but for the name that binds each and every one of us; Konoha. I wanted to make my village proud so I worked and worked and worked but now I am left wondering what happened to that society"

Tsume spoke up because what Kakashi was saying really touched her, her clan had a strong pack mentality and so she understood "three wars and the Kyuubi attack"

"Well you are right after one war and the Kyuubi's attack I lost my way I did things that I am not proud of and it took someone I had never met before knocking some sense into me before I realized that I was being an idiot. I love our village but before I only followed orders nothing else mattered"

"Troublesome you are talking revolution"

"More like re-awakening I am not saying that things will change overnight or that it won't be without its risks but with a council that for once focuses more on the betterment of the whole village rather than individual sects we can make a difference one day at a time. So what do you guys think because I can't move an inch without every single of you?"

With that he waited as they thought it over in their minds Danzo and Koharu on the other hand were fuming even if the council did not join him his little speech just put a serious kunai into their plans and Danzo decided that drastic measures must be taken Kakashi had backed him into a corner and he was going to show him why that was such a bad idea, the boy was going to suffer and die only then can they get back on track but if the council actually agrees to this foolishness then Konoha will burn and he will rebuild it in his image

The council however was slowly coming around but it was like they were waiting for someone to go first and so sensing their hesitation Fugaku decided to go first "I am with you Hokage-sama I and my clan have a lot of things to make up for excuses aside and so on that note where you lead I will follow, I and my clan"

"Thank you Uchiha-sama" _'you are definitely not who I thought will be the first person who would support me wait I mean Sandaime-sama I am only here till he arrives whenever that will be'_

"You have my full support as well Hokage-sama" said Tsume who was very impressed with the level of leadership that Kakashi was displaying _'I guess the pup is an Alpha after all'_

And with that came the domino effect, everyone pledged their full support to their Hokage and it made Kakashi very proud of the people who he had chosen as members of his council and even Danzo and Koharu said that he had their full support but he knew it was bullshit not just because of the fact that he did not trust them as far as he could throw them but because he saw the looks in their eyes as the council members rallied up behind him it screamed of murderous rage that quite frankly scared the hell out of him

'_Maybe I went too far there I mean it is not like I needed to make that speech now right Kami I am so dead'_

Of course he could not let his fears be noticed not with the atmosphere being what it was but he made sure not to look at either Koharu or Danzo for fear that he might start shaking and while normal people may not notice, people with eyes like Fugaku and Hiashi and senses like Tsume will definitely notice and he could not have that not today when he had won in such a convincing manner besides what is the worse a couple of old people could do it is not like they have any abilities that he did not know about but just as he said that he got a very uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach and that did not bode good tidings at all

"Wow I am grateful for the support given now I am going to pass out empty note sheets as well as forms that I made, they concern the changes that will be made to the academies, now what I want is for everyone to write down any ideas that they have and fill the forms how they see fit obviously I have added what was discussed today in my notes and I will review them later on, I want everyone to take it home and return the files first thing tomorrow morning deadline is 9am once this is done I will compile it and then my advisors and I will look at them and then decide the best possible route to take and all the other details as well that were not discussed here, Inoichi will be joining us as well for now at least.

The meeting will hold in my office at 9:30am tomorrow and by 10am two days after that we will have a council meeting where the comprehensive work will be presented to the house for vetting after which the changes will take effect that is if there are no other things that are deemed important enough to add to it. On that note is there anything we would like to discuss does anyone have any questions or comments as regards the meeting today?"

"Yes I have a question Hokage-sama" the tone in which Danzo used to say those words were no different from his usual tone to the casual observer but Kakashi was not a casual observer and he felt his blood chill when Danzo spoke it felt like he was in the presence of a barely restrained beast who wanted nothing more than to kill him slowly and painfully

"Yes Danzo-sama?" _'Please don't kill me'_

"When is the Sandaime returning he has been gone for quite some time now?"

"I am afraid I do not know he told me in his last letter that he will be back soon but as to when he did not specify" that was a big fat lie Sarutobi had not contacted him since he left and it was starting to worry Kakashi I mean God of Shinobi or not he was alone out there and he was sure that Konoha's enemies knew about his departure he just hoped that he was okay

"I see"

"So does anyone else have any concerns?"

Nobody said anything "alright then meeting adjourned but before we depart next meeting we will talk about the village's current economic state so I expect us to be able to come up with a way on how to first of all pay our debts to the Fire Daimyo and ways on how to generate income because we need money so on the wonderful note we will close today's meeting and I hope to see you all in a few days, thank you." And with that everyone cleared out Danzo and his trusty side kick Koharu practically storming out

But perhaps all was not lost because the Sandaime Hokage was at the gates of Konoha greeting the guards stationed there

"Good day Hokage-sama how was your trip?"

"Excellent how is the village?"

"In good shape sir"

"Very good well I will see you boys around"

"Have a good day Hokage-sama"

"And you as well"

He headed straight for the Hokage Tower greeting people along the way and then went up the stairs he had noticed Danzo and Koharu storming away in a distance so that must mean that Kakashi is doing a good job perhaps too good because it looked like Danzo was ready to kill the first person who even looks at him in the wrong way and that was a scary face on the usually stone faced Shinobi

"Come in"

"What in the world did you do to piss Danzo off so bad Kakashi-kun?"

"Finally you are back" Kakashi was so relieved that he practically sank into his chair amusing the old man "boy have I got a story to tell you"

Sarutobi then sat down and said "Well then tell me"

And so Kakashi told him everything that had been happening since he left and the Sandaime was impressed and highly amused "you threw Koharu out of the council room literally" the thought of that happening caused him to laugh his hat off

"Yea now that I think about it that was pretty funny her apology however was not I still don't know why she did it"

"I do it is a tactic that I know Danzo is capable of"

"Tell me"

At the end Kakashi was both very scared and damn impressed "Kami that is fucked up"

"Indeed but so far you have done a remarkable job Kakashi-kun"

"Well I guess I am not bad for a temporary Hokage"

"Tempo… oh uh about that you see I retired from the position of Hokage"

"Oh, well for you, you need a little vacation you have more than earned it so who is your replacement, do I know him?"

"I believe that you do"

"Oh well who is he?"

"You"

Kakashi stopped then laughed "ha good one Hokage-sama you are real funny"

But as he kept laughing he noticed that the Sandaime maintained his serious face and mood "wait you are not joking?"

"No I am not"

"But this was supposed to be temporary"

"Indeed and I was going to choose a new replacement when I returned however you have what this village sorely needs and so your appointment is now permanent"

"But wait what about informing the Daimyo and the documents involved"

"Why do you think I am so late?"

"Aw fuck me"

"Come on it is not that bad"

"Screw that I am dead wait so you will formally tell the council of this right?"

"Yes and going out the window will not help you in this matter"

"I can't be Hokage find someone else"

"I can't the council wants you and you have the Uchiha clan's trust no one else and that is not something that they give easily and if we appoint another Hokage now what stops them from thinking that we are not serious and do you really want to give Danzo that kind of ammo to use against us considering what he almost did if I had not warned you of it"

"But"

"Look Kakashi I know that you are scared but look at it this way your village needs you your council needs you, they need you to be their leader and lead them you have done so much already and you should be proud of your success gaining a new council, the trust of the Uchiha clan and putting Danzo in a tight spot all within your first week in office that is damn impressive"

"I only followed the plans that you left me"

"I am going to be on your advisory body so the plans will still be there but I need you to be at the forefront of this mission; saving our village so in your own words are you in or not?"

Kakashi saw clearly what he needed to do but he was not sure if he wanted to do it but when he looked at his companion he realized that if he said no then he will be giving this old man far more headaches than he needed and so with that he made his decision "I am with you Hokage-sama"

The Sandaime breathed a sigh a of relief "thank you Kakashi"

"Yeah I just hope that I can make you proud Sandaime-sama"

"You have already my boy" and with that it was on


	6. Chapter 6

_**Bonus chapter**_

_Chapter 6_

_Previously on Storm Blade Rebellion_

_Kakashi the prodigy, the Copy Ninja was embarrassingly lost. In his haste to make it to Suna he forgot that he had never been to Suna before and he had no idea how to get there and the only thing keeping him from losing his sanity in this wide desert was the small cabin house that he saw ahead of him_

'_I will get a map from there and hopefully some water then I will make my way towards Suna find that poison and kill that beast' Oh how wrong he will be._

Knocking on the door was lost on the tired and frustrated Shinobi so he just barged right in thinking that if there was even anyone here then he or she won't be a problem for him to handle but as he stopped to check the medium sized cabin out he got knocked out from behind

By the time he came to, he was tied to a chair in the middle of the room and he surprisingly had access to his chakra, "what kind of interrogator allows her subject access to his chakra?"

"The kind that does not care if he breaks out or not because I will simply knock him out again"

"That is conceited you cut me off guard that is all you won't be able to do that again" and with that he started moving his hands forming seals

"You came in here without knocking and since I did not invite you I put you down"

"Well it is your turn to get put down" snapping his ropes he charged "Chidori!"

Despite his speed and his sharingan he barely saw her move before he was once again out cold the embarrassing thing is the fact that he kept waking up and attacking her over and over and over again and still despite whatever precaution he took she still knocked him the next time he woke up again once more tied to a chair he decided to first assess before he attacks because he was running out of time

"Who are you?"

"A female who is very interested in why a Konoha Shinobi is lost in the middle of the desert I know it can't have been a mission otherwise they would have given you a map unless you lost it"

"I am here on a mission, a mission to find the Scorpion's fang"

She was very surprised and it showed in her voice "Scorpion's fang? What in the world does your village want with that?"

"None of your business now let me go and point me in the direction of Suna so that I can get it"

"If you go to Suna now they will kill you for trying to get your hands on the country's most deadly poison and when they see your headband they will think that Konoha is gearing up for something and then that might instigate a war or the preparation of one so there is no way your Hokage would have allowed this so who is it that you want to kill so badly"

"None of your business"

"It becomes my business when your actions may destroy the peace that I am currently enjoying so are you going to tell me or would I have to make you"

"Just because you are fast enough to stop me does not mean that you are strong or good enough to get me to tell you anything"

"I see well then I was going to have lunch before you decided to barge right in"

"The promise of food is not going to be enough to break me"

"I am not interested in breaking you I am going to let you starve and die here and then place your body in Fire country for one of your fellow Shinobis to find and by the time they decide the cause of death they will find it to be hunger and since you went on your own they won't be able to trace where you came from meaning you committed suicide in a roundabout way after which you will be treated as a Shinobi who died as a result of lack of food and no backlash will come to me or Suna or even Wind country. And that my friend is what I call a win-win situation"

Kakashi at that point was worried because like she said starving him will work in her favour but if he died then that disgusting creature will live on despite his best efforts and that was something that he could not allow.

There was no way that that beast was going to be allowed to live another day if he could help it but she was right about the other thing, Scorpion's fang was Suna's deadliest poison and there was no way that they were going to let it go to one of their former enemies turned loose alliance and even if he got it he would raise tensions between the two countries and if he is punished by the Hokage for this then the damn beast will have pulled one over him so his only hope right now was to spill and hope that she can help him she is strong after all

"Alright fine"

"Hmm what are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I am talking about"

"Uh no I don't, can you make it fast my lunch is ready"

Kakashi growled at her behaviour _'damn that woman this is hard enough as it is without her smack'_

"I am waiting"

Kakashi took a deep breath and focused on the image he had made in his head of him standing over the beast after slaying it that was the goal and he was willing to do whatever it took to achieve that goal even swallow his pride and submit to this smack talking woman

"I will tell you why I need the poison" when it looked like she might say something quirky a senbon caught the ropes holding him

"Well don't just seat there come over you look starved and thirsty"

"I am in a hurry"

"Indeed you are but if you go anywhere right now like this then it won't take long for the desert to start playing tricks on you so come over here and get something to eat, you can fill me in afterwards"

He was about to say no again and stand his ground before his stomach betrayed him and growled in hunger making anything he said from now on a moot point so "fine"

Lunch was not anything special it was just different from anything that he had ever seen before but it tasted good and he did not know just how hungry he was until he saw how many plates he had stacked before he was satisfied

"Damn you were hungry"

Kakashi was almost too embarrassed to raise his head and look at what he knew was her smirking face "oh come on you are too young to not eat as much as you want besides i think you need some meat in you, you are too skinny"

"I am not skinny" he said this with his head still bowed but his arms were crossed in an indignant manner the posture was supposed to be at least a warning but she just laughed and actually grabbed his cheeks and squeezed! So embarrassing

"Now I am going to do the dishes while I do that, look around and get comfortable after I am done we can talk"

Kakashi was about to speak up that they had wasted enough time as it was but he decided not to push it evidently she did not need him but he needed her because he could make a run for it now but he would not get far without a map and he doubted he could find his way or find another cabin like this one so he was going to have to wait

The cabin came to life when he actually looked around; it had a large living room with the dining area in the same spot all facing the door by his right was the kitchen area and his left was a bathroom and behind him was probably the bedroom he could not open the door it was locked so with that he went to seat on the couch and wait for his hostess to be done

This was when he actually took his time to look at the woman who had repeatedly took him down she was 5'9 with a great build, she had light red hair flowing down her back and with the dress that she was wearing doing the dishes he was having flashes of seeing Kushina doing the same thing and it made his heart hurt because he will never see Kushina again

He stopped looking at her it was too much too fast so he closed his eyes and tried to calm his racing heart before he did something that he might regret later on like hugging a stranger simply because she reminded him of the woman who had basically become his mother he could not afford to lose it not here not now he just hoped that she did not have Kushina's amethyst eyes otherwise this would be ten times difficult

Thankfully when she came around to seat down beside him she did not have amethyst eyes but she had dark blue eyes and for a while Kakashi thought that he was saved before the dark blue changed shade to purple and he almost broke down

"Um are you okay?" he was not okay he was far from okay when Obito and Rin died he bottled it up bearing responsibility for their deaths on his shoulders and refusing to allow himself to cry and vent instead he threw himself into the job but then he met Kushina and everything changed, she made him cry allowed him to vent, whenever something happened on a mission he knew he could always crawl into her laps and cry and she would talk or sing to him and he would feel so much better Minato always said that Kushina was cheating on him with their son

Thinking about this and remembering that his second parents were dead was becoming too much for him he needed to get himself under control or he would break down and cry and he did not deserve to cry for them not until the beast was dead only then would he be able to vent and let it go

He almost had himself back when she put her hand on his cheek and asked if he wanted a hug this time he really did break down and Aya just pulled him in and held him as he cried his eyes out stroking his back and whispering sweet words into his ears

Somewhere at the back of his mind he knew he should stop he did not know this woman not to mention he was supposed to be representing Konoha and he was not supposed to cry it was Shinobi 101 everyone knew that I mean he was a ANBU captain for cripes sakes

But it felt so good after all these years to finally just cry it all out he may regret his decision later on but right now he needed this he can pick up the weight allotted him later right now all he wanted to do was to drop it and just be the 19 year old who had lost everyone close to him

After a few minutes he stopped crying and raised his head off her shoulder "sorry about that I should not be crying on a stranger I just met"

"And tried to kill"

"Yeah sorry"

"My name is Aya and you are?"

"Hatake Kakashi"

"Alright so Kakashi do want to tell me what happened to make you want to kill someone so badly"

Kakashi frowned "he killed people I loved"

"I see tell me"

Kakashi knew that he should not some of the information was village secrets and he really should not share them with a potential threat but he needed to vent he can worry about village rules and ethics tomorrow but not today

"I lost my mother when I was three and so it was just me and my father and for a long time he was not really there since he always went on missions but I understood I mean he was important to the village and I wanted to be just like him so I trained myself hard into the ground and I became a Genin at a very young age everyone called me Konoha's Prodigy and things were getting good until a mission ruined it, my father and his team went to complete a certain mission I can't tell you what it was but it went bad and my father was faced with two choices; complete the mission or save his team he chose the latter and because of that he became an outcast and so did I, eventually he killed himself I was the one who found him dead in his study

After that I held the rules close to my heart and vowed to never make my father's mistake I was placed on a team with a medic Nin and a dead last that annoyed me he was too emotional, my Sensei however was always there for me and it wasn't long before I started looking up to him and then we went on a mission at the tail end of the third Shinobi world war

We spilt up Minato-sensei went to support the frontlines and my team and I went to do something behind it but on the way the medic Nin was kidnapped the dead last Obito wanted us to save her instead of completing the mission but I was not about to make my father's mistake so I said that I will go complete the mission and he should come with me, he refused and told me that my father was a hero and while those who abandon the rules are scum he felt that those who abandoned their friends are worse than scum and then he took off

I had just been promoted to Jounin and so I was right in my father's shoes and I went after Obito in the process of helping him I lost my eye and he unlocked his, he was an Uchiha so we saved Rin but we made a rookie mistake of turning our backs to our opponents and he caused an avalanche of rocks Obito gave his life to save Rin and when we came to he was under the rocks his right side completely crushed so he decides to give me his eye as a present for my promotion hence how I have a sharingan eye, he told me to promise to protect Rin but I could not and Rin died too

Just when things could not get any worse my surrogate father Minato and my surrogate mother Kushina were having a baby which was supposed to make everything better but it did not it couldn't have because then we had to deal with that damn godforsaken bloodthirsty murderous monster the Kyuubi no Yoko. It tore a path in our village and at the end of it Minato, Kushina and Naruto their son was dead I had once again lost all I had because of that damn creature. That is why I need that poison I need to kill that thing I have the chance now because unlike when it came to destroy us Minato stuck it in the body of a child at the cost of his life so that way it is easier to kill"

Aya was impressed I mean she expected a fucked up story but damn this kid has been through some serious shit no wonder he wants blood _'what is Sarutobi-sensei doing on his seat when a member of his ANBU force wants to kill the village jinchuriki this bad I mean he was ready to start a war over it damn not to mention the fact that it will not end well'_

"Kakashi I don't think that I need to tell you that revenge never ends well for the person seeking it, bad things happen but I can see that you don't care about what happens to you all you want is blood correct?"

"It deserves it and I am not the only one who thinks so"

"Hmm I see tell you what to test your commitment to this goal of yours I will stand over there and then I want you to draw your kunai and show me how you will take this object of your hatred out don't worry come at me with everything that you got and remember you only have one shot so make it count" and with that she stood a few feet away from him and Kakashi focused all his pain and anger into a single burst for her neck and she blocked it with a kunai of her own

Jumping back Kakashi wondered where in the world she pulled a kunai from he was expecting her to dodge his swing not block it and then smirk like she had him all figured out because she only knew what he told her and nothing else so she barely knew him

"What?"

"You don't hate the Kyuubi do you?"

"Of course I do it caused all my current problems"

"Did it now?"

"What are you talking about I hate the Kyuubi and I want it dead"

"Hmm but then who will bear all of your hatred and fears. You need the Kyuubi because it gives you a target to face and pour all your energy into because what you really hate is yourself"

Kakashi was in shock "how?"

Aya smirked at the look on his face before she got serious "sit down Kakashi you need to hear this"

"No I don't I don't need to hear anything"

"Normally I supposed to tell you to trust me but if you don't sit down now I will make sure that you regret it" she flooded the room with KI that had Kakashi shaking and racing to the couch where he promptly sat down after which Aya joined him

"How can you know anything about me?"

"I may tell you that later but now you need to listen closely to what I have to say, you are scared you are feeling guilty for not being able to save those that you care about what this is, is called survivor's guilt. Why did you make it and they didn't? That is what makes you pour so much hate and energy into hating the Kyuubi and by association a child whose only crime as far as I can tell is being host to the Kyuubi a job I am sure he did not ask for

Kakashi everyone who loses a friend or a family member will also play the what if game, some like you will find anyone else to blame for what happened and do everything possible to make that person's life miserable, others will withdraw into anything that makes the pain lesser or more bearable but all of this is wrong and they know it, you know it but you are too scared to admit it because that would mean that you have to face a truth that you are not ready for"

"That's a lie it is his fault he did it"

"Okay then"

Whack!

Kakashi screamed as a frying pan met his head "why did you do that?"

"What makes you think that I did anything blame the frying pan"

"The frying pan did not do anything"

"Okay then, blame your senses for not warning you of the incoming danger"

"You were too fast"

"Fine, then the fault belongs to your head for not absorbing the pain or negating it"

"My head is not at fault here you used a frying pan!"

"So everything else is at fault except you?"

"Yes! Oh"

"Exactly Kakashi they are a lot of people and things to blame for your current circumstance, your mother for not surviving, your father for committing suicide, Obito for trying to be a hero, Rin for not making life easier for you by staying in the village instead of going out into the field, Minato for fighting the Kyuubi, Kushina for dying, the Kyuubi for attacking, Kami for not preventing any of it. If you are looking for someone to blame you will always have an abundance of people but the thing about pointing fingers at people is that there are always at least three others pointing back at you"

"So what, it is my fault that everyone I care about is dead?"

"It could be again anyone is too blame but perhaps what you should do instead of finding poisons is that you should channel your anger and insecurities into something positive or capable of handling it"

"Like what?"

"You have survivor's guilt so the best thing to do is that you can take all the memories that you have of your loved ones, think of what they would want you to do, small things; wash your dishes, eat healthy, practice your singing skills. Just focus on slowly doing things that you would have done if they were there; only this time around do them to make them proud because something tells me that they won't be able to move on until they know that you will be okay"

"I don't know if I can do that Aya"

"You can do anything if you believe enough in yourself. Just focus on doing them slowly one at a time, bit by bit, if you think that a particular step will be too much for you to handle then stop breath consider what you stand to gain if you do it and tell yourself that it is important."

"So what I should forgive that thing?"

"For your sake yes you should, revenge makes the person that you want gone a king in your life because he will be in your every thought, every decision that you make will revolve around him and is that not too much power to give to someone that you are supposed to hate? Look you don't have to listen to me but the path that you are walking on will do you no good I can promise you that for sure"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I was where you currently are and my Sensei told me what I am telling you right now and while I did not like it I did it and I am better"

Kakashi did not like it but he knew she was right he needed to get his shit together because they would not want him to be like this but as for the Kyuubi he would try to give it a second chance keyword try

"You should be heading back to your village though you have quite a long road to cover here" she gave him a map and with his mind churning sent him on his way


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Kakashi was sitting in his office feeling quite confused you see this morning was the meeting he had with Inoichi and his advisors over the academy changes and after yesterday's roller coaster he was ready to crash but he could not because Koharu was coming to the meeting and no matter how much he wanted to meet with his advisors minus Koharu he could not because the civilian council had chosen her and Danzo as their reps and while she was not as cunning and manipulative as Danzo that did not mean that she was not a pain in his ass

'_Kami the things I am forced to do why the hell can't that woman die already it is almost like she lives to torment everyone around her and it is starting to get real old real fast I mean seriously! Hmm I wonder what if I slip and launch a _**_Chidori _**_at her under the excuse that I thought I saw a spy, that way even if I miss it will give me a reason to try again in order to save her life and if she dies then I can claim unintentional murder' _

"Killing her is not going to work" said an amused Sarutobi who had walked in and saw the look on Kakashi's face it was the same one he got when he was about to have a meeting with his then advisors he wanted to murder them too but that was not the way of an Hokage but it was freeing to see that he won't have to deal with that anymore it was somebody else's problem now

"You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"Retirement why of course yes although the look on your face is quite an enticing bonus"

"Really then I am sure you won't mind handling this meeting while I come down with a migraine because that is what this meeting will give me"

"Nope I am afraid that I cannot but I can however make your life easier"

"How exactly do you plan on doing that?"

"Send Koharu a missive saying that she will be the head of the meeting and that she should handle the venue and time"

"How in the world does that help me?"

"Easy it is currently 9:15am Koharu loves her beauty sleep so when she sees a missive like that she would doze off till 9:30am at least after which she will get all pretty and doled up which would take another hour and a half after which she will consult Danzo and plan the meeting this will go on for at least thirty minutes before she then sends the missive out"

"I love the plan but what stops her from accusing me of cutting her off?"

"Easy you send Chunin Shinobis with another missive that says you have changed your mind and that she should start coming after all an advisor should always be ready to answer the Hokage's call no matter what but the Chunin will be given strict instructions to knock at most three times and then if they get no reply then they should leave, we will send them there at least four times at intervals when we know that she won't be there that way she can't blame us for anything, so what do you think?"

"ANBU get this missive to the Chunin outside and tell him to deliver it to Koharu"

"Hai Hokage-sama"

Sarutobi chuckled "you don't waste time do you Kakashi-kun?"

"Of course not time is of the essence here. Oh yes if she comes for my head after this I will throw you under the bus"

"How noble of you"

"Seriously Sandaime-sama she and Danzo really scare me there is just something vicious about them yesterday I felt it and honestly it freaked me out"

Sarutobi became thoughtful "Yes I have felt and seen that side of them on occasions however I don't think you need to worry about that they won't risk their standings to actually attack you"

"How sure are you?"

"Hmm well considering the things that you have done including what you just put into place I am 20% sure"

"What that is not good enough damn it!"

"Relax Kakashi-kun I only know Koharu to be aggressive Danzo prefers torture"

"You are not helping me!"

Sarutobi knew that he should probably stop scaring the young man but he could not help it, it was so much fun

"Although Danzo has been known to use his wind ability to cause someone he really hated to implode I still don't know how he did it though"

Kakashi at this point was close to hyperventilating here he was freaking out and instead of encouraging him the damn Sandaime was adding fire to the one burning inside him _'dear Kami I am so dead so dead'_

"But like I said Kakashi they won't kill you in public but you should probably sleep with your eyes open you know just in case I am wrong about them killing you. What is with you and that window?"

"I am going to Suna"

"Really wow good for you Kakashi-kun but I have a question what stops Danzo from sending his ROOT ANBU after you or using the fact that you as a Hokage abandoned your village to convince the Fire Daimyo that you are traitor to the country and Konoha and not only declare you a missing Nin but have you banished from Fire country altogether?"

"You will have my back?"

"Now we both know I cannot do that I have no idea why you left"

"You do know why I left you started it"

"Hmm I did? Sorry I am an old man so my memory tends to get a little fuzzy sometimes"

"You wouldn't"

Sarutobi looked around confused "sorry Kakashi-kun but what am I doing here again?"

A dark cloud formed above Kakashi's head as he went back to his seat as the Sandaime smirked clearly enjoying himself, this was the scene that Fugaku walked into when he entered the room and it left him feeling very confused as to what is wrong with the two Hokages

"Something wrong Hokage-sama?"

"Ah Uchiha-sama how nice to see you, I was just telling Kakashi here some interesting news"

"Oh what news could have made him like this?"

"Things like the darker part of my former advisors whom he seems to be pissing off on quite an interesting level if you would forgive the language"

"Hai so he is afraid?"

"Indeed of what I don't really know I mean I may have told him that I am 20% sure that they won't kill him but that he should sleep with his eyes open you just in case I am wrong"

Fugaku of course missed the joke and took it seriously "They would actually do that?"

Sarutobi upon hearing the tone of the question knew that he had two options; tell Fugaku the truth so that he would be ready but that would mean telling him the whole plan or he could tell him to chill something the Uchiha sorely needed to start doing

"Let me put it this way I meant it as a joke but everybody in this village is a potential threat but no one is more of a threat to the village than my former advisors as to explaining why you would have to wait for Kakashi-kun to tell you after all my time is past it is a new era now"

"I am afraid I do not understand Hokage-sama"

Sarutobi put his arm on Fugaku's shoulder surprising the Uchiha with the personal touch "let us just be patient I have faith in our young leader so don't worry. Now Kakashi-kun stop being dark and gloomy we have a meeting ahead of us you know what to do"

Kakashi shook his head and took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves then he wrote the second missive and sent his ANBU to handle the matter while he had a meeting _'Kami I am so going to regret shaking the hornet's nest'_

"Sandaime-sama I want to inform my advisors of exactly what is going on"

Sarutobi was taken aback by the sudden approach he would have preferred to keep that kind of information a secret and he was not sure that telling them will help in anyway but well like he told Fugaku it was a new era and he needed to trust Kakashi and his decisions

"Very well Kakashi-kun but after the meeting is over"

"Hai"

Okay Fugaku was very interested and irritated that he was not informed of whatever this was before now but he was happy that he was being let in on what sounded like a high level secret _'finally we are getting the respect that we so richly deserve I guess the Sandaime is right I should trust our new leader but I have a feeling that that missive means something I am sure I can ask of course'_

"What is the purpose of the missive Hokage-sama?"

"In simple terms it is meant to keep Koharu away from this meeting"

"And in complex terms"

"That will be explained later I promise that everything is connected and you will better understand it if you know the whole truth instead of pieces of it"

"Then won't it be wise to postpone this meeting until we have this all settled out?"

Kakashi looked at Sarutobi who gave him an _'it is your call'_ look "Inoichi is part of this meeting and I already have most of the groundwork done and it would present instability if we call for a meeting and then can't hold it, I promise we won't have this meeting for more than an hour and then when Inoichi is gone we will give you and Tsume a rundown on what exactly is going on"

Fugaku did not like it he wanted his curiosity satisfied now he was a sharingan user after all and they did not like mysteries it pissed them off on a cellular level and filled them with the need to solve it but he had to admit that the Hokage was right but there was one more thing bothering him

"If I had not asked would you have told us at all?"

"Absolutely my problem was I did not know how to call you both to my office for a private conversion without attracting Danzo and his trouble because he will use that opening to make my life a living hell thankfully Sandaime gave me a solution that keeps Koharu away from here and unable to blame us for it"

"The missive"

"The missive"

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Come in"

"Greetings Hokage-sama, Sandaime-sama"

"Hello Inoichi, Tsume good to see you both"

"You as well Sandaime-sama, how was your trip?"

"Very fruitful thank you for asking Inoichi-kun"

'_Yeah I am sure it was while you were sipping tea I was busting my ass damn cunning Sarutobi'_

"Okay please have a seat and we will get started. Alright now these are all the forms that were sent in last night thankfully so I spent yesterday and this morning compiling them into a comprehensive curriculum that I would like you guys to look at and vet it so that we can make the changes to it, you too Inoichi"

That took a full hour because Kakashi had really done the groundwork so not much was needed to be done so on that note they decided and Kakashi drew up their completed schedules for both academies which took an extra thirty minutes, as for the teachers Kakashi sent Inoichi to the Shinobi reserve with the authority to look at the different Shinobis there placing the full resources of the village at his disposal and asking him to deliver his complete list to him by 2pm tomorrow

"So what is next Hokage-sama?" asked Tsume

"Sandaime-sama if you would?"

"Of course" he then activated the silence seals in the office making Tsume realize that this was serious so she sat up straight and waited but she could not help but notice the absence of Koharu who was supposed to represent the civilians and while she did not like the old bat she wondered why she was not here

"Shouldn't we wait for Koharu-san?"

"Yes but we are not going to because she is part of the reason that we are having this meeting"

"What is that supposed to mean I mean I don't like the woman but the law is clear and if this is a meeting that includes sabotaging one of Konoha's elders then I am not interested"

Sarutobi turned to her and said in a calming tone "relax Tsume-chan this is just to inform you and Fugaku of the people that you will be coming in contact with how you choose to treat them afterwards will be your responsibility ours is to make sure that you are well informed"

"Sandaime-sama is right we are not here to be judge and jury for anyone we just want to make sure that you guys as advisors have as much information as we can give you nothing more than that"

"Okay so what is going on then?"

"Danzo Hotaru and Koharu, the Sandaime's advisors when he was still Hokage are not all for Konoha or the ideals that it stands for"

Tsume and Fugaku were confused and unlike her more mannered partner she could not hold back her question "but wait so because they don't agree with you they are enemies to the country that is ridiculous not everyone will agree with what you say but that is not enough to accuse them of treason"

"Did the last person who disagreed with you build an army of soldiers loyal to only him and lacking any emotions whatsoever so that they will be able to infiltrate into your house and kill off part of your guards and place his own making sure that it can't be traced back to him and then use any information that he gets to make your job far harder than it needed to be and thus increase his influence in your house" asked Kakashi

Tsume and Fugaku were so stunned that they turned to the Sandaime as if to ask him if what Kakashi is saying is true or not but he simply sighed and brought out his pipe and took a long draw before saying

"Yes Danzo did all that and I am afraid that is the least of his transgressions I had turned my eye away from him because I trusted my friend to have my back not plot behind it"

"How did he get an army?" asked a very bewildered Tsume

"I got this one Kakashi-kun. You see Danzo loves Konoha with all of his heart but he is against the belief that the First introduced; the Will of Fire. He believes that the people serving under the Hokage should be emotionless weapons that can be used any way that the Hokage sees fit, he is also of the opinion that every other hidden village in the world should bow down to us in fear. So in other to make this belief a reality he has kidnapped a lot of people and using inhumane techniques drained any life or light in them to the point where they become servants to their king

He tried to get me into it but I refused to do that to anyone thinking that he would respect my decision and drop the matter but I was wrong he did not instead he continued to do it behind my back and using unhanded tactics placed himself in the council and in the Fire Daimyo's good graces

So now his plan is simple; discredit me and anyone who stands with me and then remove me from being in power and then he will have free reign to rule Konoha the way he sees fit and that is something that I cannot allow"

"The ANBU that I sent out of the council room my first day was one of his own unfortunately I could not breath as Hokage unless I somehow found a way to kick Danzo out of the picture that is what I hoped to archive with the new council and the new advisors but of course they own the current civilian council so as long as we have the civilians on the council Danzo will be there as well either in person or through his puppets"

"Well if he is so dangerous why haven't you guys taken him out?"

"I would like to know that as well because if he is so deep in our backs then he can literally do anything and get away with it since he has an army at his disposal"

"We thought of that but we can't, first of all because he has been careful to not leave any trace of his actions anywhere and if we attack and miss then he can come to the council and claim murder and ask that we be jailed and we can't tell them why we wanted him dead because we have no proof of anything and we will come off as being paranoid not factual"

"Damn it so what can we do?"

Sarutobi blew his tobacco before he answered "we wait with the way things are going Danzo has been pushed into a corner and so he is now going to have to up his game and since we already know what his end game is we can meet him at every point"

"That is why you made sure that Koharu was not present today"

"Wait how did you do that?"

"Wow that is impressive indeed"

Sarutobi smirked, "thank you"

Tsume however decided to get back on track "so all we can do is wait for him to make a mistake?"

"Yup"

"But what happens when that mistake is taking you and Sandaime-sama out?"

Kakashi looked at Sarutobi "she has a point there Sandaime-sama I know we are supposed to be patient with them and wait this out but we need to prepare for the possibility that they actually take us out"

Sarutobi stroked his beard and said "well the first thing is that they won't kill both of us at once they will only come after one of us and I am almost certain it is me that they would have meet with an 'accident' after which they will then try to get themselves into your good graces Kakashi-kun and then Fugaku's. From then on their tactics will go back to their subtlety and cunning"

"Maybe they should" said Fugaku and they all looked at him like he had grown a second head "listen we can fake the Sandaime's death and make sure that only the council knows because we don't want to spread panic by telling the village until we have caught the culprit, do we have any evidence at all of Danzo's schemes?"

"Sandaime-sama"

"Yes I do believe that I have some but they are circumstantial at best"

"Excellent we say that we have evidence of papers that the killer wanted to get from the Sandaime before he died but he could not get it on time because Kakashi showed up and caught a glimpse of an ANBU before he disappeared and that is why the entire ANBU is going to undergo a rigorous screening and then whoever is without emotions or doesn't show will be deemed a traitor"

They all could not stop staring and they were a little scared of Fugaku right now Kakashi said "damn I am glad that you are on our side but I love that plan and if we say that it was a near death that put the Sandaime into a coma and so that is why we can't tell the villagers so worst case scenario we clean up the ANBU division and best case Danzo slips up and makes a mistake"

Tsume was excited because this meant that they won't be sitting ducks anymore because just waiting for a predator to make a mistake is a very risky move "I agree and if we play our cards right we won't even have to tell anyone much if he has as many spies as you say he will find out for himself and then bring it up thinking he has us on the ropes"

"And then we slam him down in front of the entire council and if we play our cards right as well we can shake the council's trust in him and Koharu. I love it nice work Uchiha-san"

"Thank you Hokage-sama"

"So what do you think Sandaime-sama?"

"Well I am old and past my prime so dying is not a problem for me but what is a problem is the fact that Danzo may or may not smell a trap at which point we need to put a backup plan in place because I know my rival he may switch this whole thing and say that we are so jobless and unconcerned with the problems our village is facing that we cooked up a mystery or that we don't trust our ANBU and so we are investigating them pointing to something that Danzo will love to pin us with; paranoia"

"You have a point but we can't just sit on our hands until he strikes" said Kakashi

"I know I have done that for a long time that is why I would like to know if Tsume-chan has any way to get some blood not registered in Konoha fresh blood that we can place at the scene and a scent that is familiar but also not so that when the hunter Nin and ANBU come in they can have facts that will point to someone who was not registered in the village archives but stays around"

Tsume nodded "Hai if you give me a couple of days I can get it under the radar too so Danzo will not be able to trace it back to us in any way that the council will believe without admitting that he has his own private army that is not on record"

"Excellent Fugaku-kun I need a favour"

"Anything Hokage-sama what do you need?" the Uchiha was happy that his idea had been received by everyone including the Sandaime it made him feel respected and it was all he and his clan wanted to feel; respected.

"Danzo is paranoid when it comes to things like this and so before he makes any move he would make sure that we are for real and also the best way to get him is through the people he hangs around and Kakashi is the reason that we have this chance"

"So what are you saying you want to use me as bait?"

"Something like that, Koharu at this point hates your guts and that makes it easier for Danzo to believe that she would do something drastic in other to get at you"

"So what do you want me to do Sandaime-sama?"

"I want to know if you can use your sharingan to increase Koharu's hatred for Kakashi until it is consuming her"

Kakashi did not feel comfortable with that plan Koharu scared him enough as it is he did not like the idea of facing a pissed off Koharu gunning for his head because he had a feeling that she won't miss

"Uh do we have to do that I mean what will that do?"

"It will give Danzo a suspect and taking her aggressive ways into account it won't be far-fetched to think that she would try to have you killed and if you could also raise her rebellious mind a little bit against Danzo Fugaku-kun?"

"I do believe that I can Sandaime-sama"

Sarutobi smirked, "and just like that Danzo is in trouble with us"

Tsume and Fugaku smiled in excitement Kakashi was happy and just a little terrified for his life as well because he did not want a vengeful Koharu after him

Knock. Knock.

"Come in"

"Hokage-sama Koharu-sama sent this missive for a meeting"

'_And so it begins'_

Meanwhile

Itachi was sitting on top the Hokage Mountain deep in thought the first thing that was foremost in his mind was the absurd change that he was seeing at home. His father a man that he thought he knew and understood was being nice and understanding it was driving him up the wall so he had gone to meet Kari earlier today and she told him about the changes going on in the centre and how he was supposed to give his father time

Now he had no problem giving his father time to get his act together but his hope was that when he got his act today it will not consume him because from what he was seeing and from what Kari had told him it seemed like his father was trying to change and so was his mother but it was slow going and frankly at this point he did not really care for his father's new attitude but Sasuke could use a better father

'_I just hope that he won't snap back to his former ways when something goes wrong because if that happens then I will never trust him with anything ever again besides I have the family I need in Kari, Anko and of course Sasuke and with the way things are going I might also have two other people as little brothers'_

He was so deep in thought about the true weight of his father's new change of heart and whether or not he would accept it, because as much as Anko and Kari would want him to he didn't think that he could ever trust his father again not to talk of forgiving him for all the shit that he has put him and Sasuke through, that he did not notice that Fugaku was making his way towards him after spotting him from the Hokage's office so in other words he was quite shocked when he heard

"Itachi"

He first stiffened and then turned his head to face his father wondering what the hell he was doing here because the last thing that he needed right now was some command about how he was not supposed to be here instead he was supposed to be training or helping the clan or their latest interest making friends he did not need this right now but telling him that would be asking for trouble so he simply said

"Yes father?"

"May I join you?"

'_What the fuck is this? Why can't he go back to making sense this whole concerned dad personality is seriously freaking me out?'_

"Sure"

"Thank you"

"What are you doing here father? I thought you had a meeting with the Hokage today not here on top of the Hokage Mountain sitting with me"

Fugaku sighed deeply _'I knew it won't be easy but if there is one thing that I have learnt in the past few days it is that honesty was the best way to handle matters like this, for so long I have served the Elders in the clan and I have pushed my family away right now I just hope that I can get my family back Kami help me this is harder than I thought it would be'_

Itachi at this point was very confused, pensive was not an attribute that he would ever use to describe his father not to mention that his father did not have his normal hard face that he used to he seemed softer

"I have failed you and Sasuke and you have every right to hate me and to want nothing to do with me and I definitely do not expect everything to be sunny and roses if I simply show concern for you but would you at least give me the chance to explain what happened after which it will be your choice"

"What do you want father I don't understand"

Fugaku looked at his son, Kami he could remember an Itachi that drove him and his mother crazy with his crying and it got worse when Itachi learnt to crawl, he was a child that never stayed in one place it did not matter what you used to block his way he will find a way around it. Fugaku bent his head and smiled when he remembered just how Mikoto used to look when Itachi turned two Kami taking care of the wandering child was an S rank mission in and of itself

"Why are you smiling?"

"I remember when you were born you drove Mikoto and I crazy you cried so much that I had to get ear plugs and considered placing a silencing seal around your crib so that we could sleep but Mikoto did not want that she loved it on some deeper level because it didn't matter how much you were crying immediately you saw her you would stop and start smiling it made her feel special but damn it drove me crazy

And it got so much worse when you learnt how to crawl and then walk you were so curious about everything and anything that happened in your environment that it drove us up the wall, taking care of you became an S rank mission because it did not matter what we put in your way you always found a way around it Kami I remember how mad I looked when we looked for you during a storm. We searched everywhere in the compound and we started looking in the village you were three years old then. Mikoto and I were soaking wet, anxious and so angry with ourselves that we could not take care of our son that we started to argue with each other

We came home that night and somehow went to your room only to find you there asleep and not a drop of water on you that was when we realized in all our searching we did not look in your room because we didn't think that you would be there damn I had never felt more stupid in my life"

"I remember that time things were easier then but then all of a sudden you changed it was like someone had flipped a switch in your head and you just stopped being my father you became a clan head nothing but the clan mattered to you, not me, not Sasuke nobody and somehow mother joined you that was the worst thing that I have ever seen, what happened dad?"

Fugaku smiled in relief _'dad he hasn't called me that in so long I have forgotten how much I missed it'_

"The Elders happened when you turned four it was clear to Mikoto and I that you were far more intelligent that your age mates as a father that made me so proud I made the mistake of bragging about it to my father, your grandfather who is an Elder then told the rest of his pack of wolves and they started pushing for your quick advancement. I did not see anything wrong there I mean you were a brilliant child you needed a different learning curve

Mikoto warned me about taking things too far but I did not listen I trusted my father to lead me aright but then the little advancements got bigger and they started demanding a little too much so I told them to back off and leave us alone now as you know the council in the clan operates of the most powerful individuals well your uncle and aunt were on my side so it was easy for me to tell the body of Elders to back off and for a while everything was good

Until the Kyuubi struck and in one blow took out the more rational members of the clan alongside my siblings giving the Elders the leeway and motive to push you harder I was grieving but I should have known better Sasuke was born into this period and I was not myself so in other to numb the pain I became like you said a clan head ignoring the two amazing boys that were growing up right in front of me telling myself that I had failed my family and so I needed to stick to the only thing that I knew how to do; be a clan head"

Fugaku snorted at his stupidity while Itachi listened on in shock at the things that he was hearing not to mention the fact that for the first time in a long time his father was not behaving like a clan head but like a dad and as much as he wanted to hate him he couldn't maybe he could not fully forgive him or trust him yet but he was very mush willing to give this man a chance because he just realized that he needed his father back but he also needed to know that his father was not going to change back

"Your mother is an angel she understood what I was going through, she knew that you and Sasuke needed someone to take care of you and she did and she also knew that I needed her to be there for me and she was and somehow she found a way to make me listen to what happened during the day when we were alone and whenever I did something wrong that was when she would correct me I love your mother Itachi because when I came back to my senses and realized what I was doing was stupid the Elders were pushing for war

Telling them to back off at that point with the things they were saying would have resulted in them turning against us and I did not want you or Sasuke to be a part of that, Mikoto and I had a plan but we needed you boys stationed away from the house before we could do it. That is why I wanted you in ANBU and Sasuke with Naruto not for the reasons I told you but so that you will both be safe if the Elders saw that we were on their side then they would let their guard down and we could take over

Mikoto lied when she said what she said to you that day about it being her plan to get rid of your brother she cried for hours after you left but then the impossible happened the Hokage had turned the village around and finally we had respect in the council and with me being an advisor to the Hokage the Elders had no real backing to keep pushing you to improve or to support their war at this point the clan is still divided there are some that are supporting me but there are more on the Elder's side"

"So what does that mean?"

"It means that I am tired of pushing my boys away and punishing my wife by having her support my stupidity in front of you. I know that I have done horrible things there is no excuse for that but I really just want my boys and my family back let Sasuke keep staying with Kari at least until this whole thing blows over I need him to be safe and I know that Kari will do just that but I would like it if my wandering son came home if not for me then please I am begging you Itachi, do it for your mother she misses you dearly and if you could at some point take her with you to see Sasuke it would mean the world to her because after giving up so much for me all that I want for her is to be happy so please would you forgive her and not blame her for my sins and come home you don't even have to stay just to let her know that she still has her boys"

Itachi did not know what to say he was so confused I mean he had so many questions about this

"Why didn't you show Sasuke any affection or even look at him?"

"Everything I say now will sound like an excuse but I will answer all of your questions honestly and the reason that I ignored Sasuke is because it made life easier on me"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that Sasuke looks too much like my brother that I couldn't bear to look at him, I had anger towards your uncle and aunt I hated the fact that they died and left me with this mess I hated the fact that I was now at the mercy of my father unable to come out and whenever I looked at Sasuke I saw the torn up body of my brother and my sister's dead eyes and I could not bear it, it was stupid but it was real to me"

"You saw their bodies with your sharingan?"

"Yes I did"

Itachi knew that there was not much he could say on that issue because if he saw them with his sharingan active then that memory was burned into his mind there was nothing he could do about it and if his experience with Anko was any good then he knew how fast people can change when they are hurt but that brought him to his next question

"Look dad even if I believe you, who know if after today you won't go back to the way you were before you came to your senses"

"I was scared and angry and burdened with responsibility that I did not want, I was a fool then who thought that I was in control of my life someone who thought that he could never be wrong and I expected a five year old boy and his little brother to understand and just go with the flow. I can't promise you that I will not be that person again or that I won't change and be someone else entirely but what I can promise you now and until I die and even after is that I love you and Sasuke how I show it may be different but the thought is the same"

While it was not the answer he was looking for it was an honest answer and that was what he needed to hear "so now what?"

"Well I want you to give me and your mother a second chance to show you how much we love you and I want my curious boy back I really want to be a part of your life Itachi if you would let me"

Itachi smiled at his dad something he did not think was possible and he felt good doing so "I forgive you dad and mom too"

Fugaku had a wide smile on his face when Itachi said that and in a very uncharacteristically move pulled his son in and hugged him and while it was weird hugging his father Itachi found out that quite quickly his body calmed down and it stopped feeling so weird because he could remember when he was a kid he always stayed in his father's arms as he read him a story

"Thank you kiddo"

Itachi laughed as they separated "it has been a while since you called me that dad"

"Yes it feels good doing so"

Itachi decided to take advantage of having his dad here to discuss another matter that was bothering him "dad can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure kiddo what is it?"

"Um there is this girl her name is Anko Mitirashi she is my friend"

Fugaku paused then thought about it _'where have I heard that name before wait a minute isn't she Orochimaru's former apprentice how in the world did Itachi get involved with her not to talk of befriending her I thought she was a flight risk case well from the look on his face it seems like he really likes her and I have a feeling that a bad move here will not end well _

_I mean while I would be slow in trusting a flight risk it seems that Itachi liked her so I have two choices here; I could follow my instincts and say that I don't trust her and I do not like the fact that my son is hanging around her damning the consequences or I could trust my son's judgement of people and trust that he has this one covered'_

"I don't know her like you do all I know is what I have been told however I trust you in your choice of friends and if she is important to you then I am willing to meet her and form my opinion based on what I see for myself and not on the basis of what anyone tells me" from Itachi's body language he knew that he had answered correctly "so what is the matter?"

"I don't know what to do about our relationship"

"Meaning what exactly?"

"I think I am in love with her"

Fugaku smirked "you think?"

'_Damn it why does everyone keep teasing me about this?'_ "Okay I am in love with her alright"

Fugaku laughed at the look on his son's face "so what is the problem?"

"I feel like we are too young to be together and I know she feels the same way about me but we are ten, what can we possibly know about what it takes to be in a relationship we are great friends but I don't want to ruin anything by pushing us into a relationship but I don't want her to start dating someone else"

"First things first you need to realize that you can't force a female to do anything I mean it kiddo it is impossible the other thing is that you can't stop a female from doing something that they feel is right so in other words if Anko wants a relationship and she knows that you like her even a little then you are doomed and if she does not want to date anyone but you then it doesn't matter who they are she won't date them"

"So then what should I do?"

"You are afraid that things will change for the worse or become confusing if you guys start dating right?"

"Hai"

"Do you know what being in a relationship means though?"

"No dad I don't"

"I see do you know what it means when someone says that is my best friend?"

"Uh yeah it means that you guys are very close and you don't keep things from each other it also means that that person has your back no matter what anyone says"

"Good now a relationship is exactly like that, the only difference is that you guys share a level of intimacy that best friends don't so if you are old enough to have a true best friend read my statement; one best friend not two so if you are in one relationship stick to it so as I was saying if you are old enough to have a best friend then in my book you are old enough to date"

"I should stop freaking out"

"Well it is unusual for kids your age to be so close to their opposite sex so is your situation unique yes but is it wrong no"

Itachi was so relieved to hear that so that meant that he could ask Anko to be his girlfriend and not feel weird about it _'thank Kami-sama'_

Fugaku laughed then decided to tease his boy so he placed his hand on his heart and got a shocked look on his face "wait so that means that you have a girlfriend that will be kissing you and cuddling you I am so proud"

Itachi's face turned so red that tomatoes would get jealous "DAD!"

At Fugaku's home

"Mikoto are you home?"

"Fugaku you are back how did the meeting go? I am in the kitchen dear"

They went there and saw she was making lunch with her back turned to them but then she stiffened and turned around sharply "Itachi?"

"Hey mom I'm home"

Mikoto started crying "you and your father talked?"

"Hai dad and I talked and I get it I forgive you and I love you" she practically assaulted him with hugs and kisses before wrapping her arms around him "oh my boy thank Kami you're home finally"

"I can take you to see Sasuke"

"Tomorrow we will all go for today I want to know how you have been"

"Actually Itachi has something he needs to take care of don't you kiddo"

"He does?"

"Hai I do thanks dad I will be back later I gotta go"

"Where is he going Fugaku?"

"I will tell you over lunch"

"Okay"

With Itachi

Itachi knew that he should calm down and think but he did not want to he was so happy he could feel a burning fire in his heart and he honestly did not know what to do about it but he knew that if he stopped to think about this then there was a chance that he would think his way out of this but shouldn't he think about this I mean he didn't even know where Anko is

'_Okay I just need to calm down and think it is noon so Anko is either at the Dango shop or training so since I am close to the market square I will check the Dango shop and then if she isn't there then I will buy some dango and check the training area for her'_ and as he said she was not in the Dango shop so he bought some Dango but when he checked their training ground she was not there either so he checked her house also not there and then he checked the Forest of Death also not there at this point he was seriously worried about

'_The last time she went MIA on me she brutally murdered three people and kidnapped another one I know the cursed seal is gone but where could she be?'_

He went back to the house freaking out so he just barged in and saw his parents in the kitchen laughing about something Mikoto noticed his pale face and the fact that he was shaking Fugaku however noticed that he was not looking happy in fact he looked like Mikoto and him when they couldn't find Itachi that day and so while Mikoto ran to hug him and seat him down he just asked

"You can't find her, can you?"

Itachi looked like a zombie "no I can't I looked everywhere but I can't find her"

"Oh sweetheart I am sure she is okay"

"You don't know her like I do mom she has been through a lot and she is not the most stable of people not to mention the fact that the citizens of the village hate her guts and will do anything to get rid of her what if they have done something already?"

"They haven't"

"How can you know that?" Itachi asked his father who looked too calm and serene for an issue like this come to think of it his mom was smiling why in the world was she smiling?

"Your father told you about the day we went looking for you right?"

"Yes"

"Well at the bottom of our hearts we knew somehow that you were safe but we didn't listen to it because we lived in a volatile time so we could be very wrong and we did not want to take that chance"

Fugaku came over and placed his hand on his panicking son's shoulder "when you truly love someone you will know 8 out 10 times when that person is in trouble and if you are sensitive enough you will know 9 times out 10 so calm down take a deep breath and focus if she was not in any of her regular places then where would she be?"

"Nowhere those are the only places that she goes nowhere else, the Dango shop, her apartment, the Forest of Death and our training ground"

"Is that all the places that she hangs out in?"

"Yes!"

"Itachi-kun are you her only friend?"

"Well no she has one more but she out of the village on border patrol"

"When did she leave?"

"The last shift dad"

"This morning because the shift changed today so if she did not leave this morning then she is going to be part of the shift coming in"

"That's true and since they haven't since in a long while Anko would want to spend the whole day with her, but then I should probably let them be I might intrude"

"Kiddo do you think that you will not find an excuse to postpone this thing indefinitely?"

"Your father is right Itachi-kun find her and tell her besides it will be very romantic"

"But where can I find them?"

Mikoto being a girl had an idea where young girls coming from the border would go to chill and just be with her friends "try the mall sweetheart and if they are not there then try the Hidden Dragon but start with mall"

"What makes you think that they would be there mom?"

"Simple sweetheart I am a female and I have done border patrol before so I know the rest spots us girls use when we come back from a long and boring mission like border patrol"

"But what if they are not in any of those places?"

"You come back here and we will head to the Police HQ together and have them join us and look for her"

Itachi took a deep breath and left but he went against mother's opinion and checked the Hidden Dragon first reasoning that it was closer and a weapons store sounded more like Anko than a mall but she was not there and the owner said that he had not seen her there at all today

So then he rushed over to the mall and started looking with his sharingan activated now normally he knew he was being a little melodramatic but he did not care at this point this was Anko and he would rather go overboard and feel silly when he finds her okay than go about it normally when she needs help

"Nai-chan I'm hungry can we go now?"

When he heard that he rushed to where he heard the voice come from and when he got to the changing area in the female clothing section of the mall he saw a dark haired girl with red eyes trying on some dress he was not interested in looking at but right in front of her with a very bored look on her face was Anko and she was okay and just like that his mind settled and he was able to breath properly his sharingan however was still on spinning slowly taking in every inch of her making sure that she was actually okay

"Shush you I just spent weeks on the fucking border doing nothing but watch trees so if I want to spend the day shopping I will besides we ate just an hour ago"

"But I want dango now damn it"

"Well sorry i don't have any"

"No duh so can we leave now?"

"No now what do you think of this?"

"I hate it"

"What why?"

Itachi decided to save her before she said something else because from the glint in her eyes it looked like she was going to say something quite snappy at the dark haired girl so he walked forward

"Hello"

Anko gasped at the voice and when she turned her head she practically screamed "Tachi-chan" she looked so happy to see him that he actually blushed and Kurenai noticed and smirked _'well, well, well what do we have here?'_

"What are you doing here Tachi-chan?"

_'Okay just breathe Itachi breathe'_ "I was looking for you, figured that you would be hungry but I did not expect to see you in a mall though"

"Yeah blame her, my best friend Kurenai Yuhi, Kurenai this is Itachi"

"Nice to finally meet you Itachi-san Anko has told me a lot about you"

"Likewise"

"Okay, okay you too have met yippee can we go now?"

"Actually I bought dango for you"

"You did where is it damn it and why didn't you say so at first"

"Here"

"Thanks hmm dango good"

"Anko don't talk with your mouth full"

"Skew u"

Itachi was confused so he turned to Kurenai who face palmed after Anko spoke "what did she say?"

"She said screw you"

"Ah" by the time they were done talking Anko had finished her dango

"Did you get more Tachi-chan?"

"No I am afraid you ate the last one"

"Damn it I thought you bought more Nai-chan hurry up already wills ya? I am hungry for cripes sake"

"Anko shut up I am not done and as my best friend I am telling you that if you leave me to shop on my own I will make sure that you regret it" after looking at Kurenai cold red eyes Anko clamped up and Itachi felt like an intruder on what looked like a girl's day out but of course Anko could not shut up for long

"So what are you doing here Tachi-chan?"

Itachi knew that there was no way that he would be able to say what he had come to say to her in front of her friend not to mention the people around will see them so he was just about to find an excuse when

"Well hello pretty ladies"

The trio turned to see a teenager probably a thirteen year old who had a headband on so he must be fresh out of the academy or something and he leering at Anko and Kurenai

Kurenai had a low tolerance for perverts but she did not want to cause a scene especially seeing the mischievous look in Anko's eyes "are you talking to us?"

"Why of course well I am talking more to the purple haired angel over here"

"Oh me aw that is so sweet of you to say"

"Yes I can easily tell when I see a single pretty girl in need of some company"

The 'single' hit a nerve in Itachi and though he knew Anko had something nasty planned for the Genin he knew that if he did not make a move now then somehow he will keep procrastinating it until it becomes too late he would rather embarrass himself now than lose her for good so on that note he chilled until the charmer noticed a snake in his pants

"AHHHH"

'_Priceless'_ thought Anko as she watched the pervert run away screaming

"Nice job"

"Thank you Nai-chan now hurry up"

"Anko I would like to ask if you would do me the honour of being my girlfriend"

Even as he said it he felt stupid so stupid that every cell inside of him was slamming their heads against a wall in shame at that cheesy damning and embarrassing line I mean what the fuck couldn't he have done it a little better? Fuck

Kurenai was wide-eyed and stunned on ranks of date lines that was bad so bad I mean Kami can't he be a little bit creative I feel bad hearing that I mean I felt actual physical pain hearing that

Itachi simply watched Anko who had her eyes closed and was silent "why would you ask me that?"

He knew he had already hit rock bottom so he decided to go with the truth that was all he had right now and if he lost her then at least he tried his best "Because I love you and I want us to be together but the choice is up to you"

Anko stood up and walked up to stand right in front of him, Itachi had never felt so venerable before in his whole life his heart was almost literally in his throat he was so scared Anko placed arms around his neck her body was really close to his but her eyes were still closed and he knew she could feel his heart pounding in his chest and his pulse he really wished she would just do it and get it over with the waiting was killing him

Anko opened her eyes but they were blank then she raised her head because he was a couple of inches taller than her then she smirked and said "what took you so long?" then she pressed her lips against his for about two seconds

Itachi only had one thing to say "you are so evil"

She laughed "well I am not the one who made a girl wait for so long thinking that she was just your friend and yet acted like an amazing boyfriend at some point I thought I was going crazy you damn Uchiha what in the world took you so long?"

Itachi shook his head "honestly I was afraid of what your answer would be"

"Now why in the world would I say no, you literally saved my life, helped me make Chunin and put me in a team with my two favourite people what would stop me from being with you dummy I was just about to kidnap you and force you to ask me out"

When she said that he remembered what his dad said about stopping a woman from dating who she wanted to date and boy was he glad that he had asked her now because he was not looking forward to what she would have done to him had he made her wait longer he shuddered when she smiled like a snake and then placed something that crawled around his lower waist

"Sorry for you making you wait Anko-chan"

She smiled like nothing happened but at least the suspicious thing had disappeared from his sensitive parts because he did not know how was going to explain that to his parents without dying from embarrassment

"Cool you guys are dating can we get back to me now?"

"Sure, sure Nai-chan go back to what you are doing" she then turned to Itachi "did something happen?"

"Well my dad and I talked and we are cool now"

Anko raised an eyebrow "Dad you say okay I am very interested tell me what happened"

"Shouldn't you pay attention to your friend?"

"I can multi task come on spill now"

"Okay if you say so"

Meanwhile Koharu had just figured out what Kakashi had done to her and she was so pissed that she could not put into words her eyes were turning black as in the whole eye and her body started shaking in rage _'you have no idea what you have unleashed boy but I will make sure that you know slowly and painfully'_

That same day

At the Sozen household 2pm

The boys did not want to get up they knew it was time to start 'hide and seek' but they could not find the courage to stand let alone head out. Earlier today they woke up too early for this morning's training they thought that after yesterday that they would be able to sleep in today and get the rest that they thought they so richly deserved but they were wrong Kari woke them up like an alarm clock that they unfortunately could not shut up and go back to sleep so they crawled out of bed

Expecting that their loving grandmother will go easy on them by reducing their workout schedule but no she did not it was the same schedule as four days ago and to be honest yesterday they barely got out of bed to train so even the boys themselves did not know how in holy hell they were still alive and breathing with their nostrils because every cell in their entire body was screaming for rest but unfortunately they could not answer it not today

"Dear Kami this woman will be the death of us" said Sai who was so tired he could barely move around without grunting in pain

"At least we have tomorrow and the day after to look forward to" said Sasuke looking at the bright side of things for a change but Naruto looked at the opposite side

"Yeah except we are going to be studying"

Groans filled the living room after Naruto said that Sai actually started shedding tears

"When, when will this torment be over?"

It had the desired effect of bringing smiles to both Sasuke and Naruto who were not expecting the usually laid back Sai to get so emotional

"Come on you guys we got things to do" said Sai "don't worry I am sure she would allow us some sleep tomorrow and if not then at least we won't have to worry about training our bodies"

"Ugh why do you have to have a point can't we just stay here for now"

"Ugh Sai is right teme come on get up we got work to do"

"I hate you guys so much right now"

"Get over it teme and let's move we got places to be"

"And injuries to sustain" said Sai

"Not funny mop head" said Naruto

Meanwhile Kari was outside meditating because she did not expect those boys to be able to walk out here for their afternoon session as a matter of fact she expected that by the time she was done meditating they would have fallen asleep and even when they wake up they would not be interested in their evening session after the amount of work that they have put in this past four days they should be collapsing now

"We are ready Kari-sensei"

'_What the fuck? Did I just imagine Naruto's voice or is it real?' _

As far as she was concerned she was dreaming or hallucinating or something because there was no way in hell that her boys were outside ready for more but as she opened up her awareness to the world around her she felt their chakra signatures weak but determined and it was at that moment above all the others to come that she was filled with such pride and love for her resilient and determined boys

Opening her eyes she saw her boys seated on the ground with their weapons beside them with their eyes heavy but focused it was like they knew that they could sleep but they also realized that they had something important to do and while she knew that she could send them to sleep now and cancel today's training she knew that doing so will do more harm than good they were brave and strong enough to come out here and they deserved to be trained and rewarded

"I have never been more proud of you boys than at this moment I expected that you will take a break from training today and go to sleep but here you are I don't think I have ever met kids as determined as you before you have shown true bravery and willpower in coming out here today and I am so proud of you boys"

They were all smiles when they heard that and before Naruto could boast about something stupid Sai held his mouth no need to give their sensei a wrong impression of exactly what they could do but the things she said definitely gave the boys a booster and it stroked their egos too

"So today we will start off with the academy style taijutsu I will show you the stance and one of the basic moves that it uses and then we will practise that for two hours and then we will play hide and seek and this night as a reward for such determination I will teach you boys a ninjustu each"

Their eyes lit up at that and Naruto practically jumped up in delight

"What are you going to teach us Kari-sensei?" asked Sai

"Yeah, yeah, yea what are you going to teach us ttebayo?"

Kari laughed at their enthusiasm and to think that just a couple of minutes ago they were straining to keep their bodies erect and now they are practically almost bouncing off the walls

"Well you all know the academy three and Sasuke knows a C rank fire technique so for Sasuke I will teach you this let me demonstrate it for you okay Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu"

Sasuke nearly drooled as he watched her fire multiple fireballs that obliterated a nearby tree and its neighbours

"Whoa so cool what about me Baa-chan?"

"Hold up Naruto-kun now Sasuke I will explain the hand signs and the details of your jutsu tonight the same goes for you two, now Sai hold on Naruto-kun I am coming to you okay? Now Sai here is what I will be teaching you. Earth Style: Head-hunter Jutsu" and with that she disappeared from view and then grabbed Sai's leg from underground and then let go only to return to her original position leaving the kids in awe

"Now Naruto-kun thank you for be so patient with me and waiting for me to show your brothers their own techniques first before coming to yours thank you my dear" at the this point she was messing with him purposely delaying him and the mad twitch in his eye was well worth it because it looked like he was ready to burst in rage so she decided to just get it over with

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough" a gust of wind tore a clear path in the training ground and annihilated a tree into pieces then Kari decided to show the boys a combination that they could work with so she created three solid clones one went underground and clasped unto the other one who had jumped some distance away and then Kari had her clone went through their hand signs Kari using Great Breakthrough and her clone using Great Fireball releasing them at the same time caused a super-hot and super-fast fireball to pour out and by the time it had passed the ground was black and scarred

She then turned to her drooling boys and said "it will take some time before you guys can use that combination and Sai your Jutsu can be easily used to bury someone neck down in the ground but be careful not to overdo it okay boys?"

Naruto ran and hugged her "I love you Baa-chan"

Kari laughed _'give a boy a destructive tool and you become his best friend, boys'_ "Okay it is time for training now this is the academy stance" now she could not be sure but it felt like the boys were paying special attention today which was interesting to say the least

The next day

Itachi woke up Saturday morning feeling different, yesterday was the weirdest and craziest day of his entire life but it was a day that he would never want to take back because within 24 hours he had gotten his family back and then the kicker to it was when he asked Anko out, I mean it was definitely not going to win the award for the best line ever but thankfully Anko did not mind his lack of flair in asking her out although she nearly gave him a heart attack with the delay but now that he had slept on the whole issue he knew she was right he was just thankful that she accepted

Which brings him to the kiss that she gave him it was quick but why he was thinking about it was because he wanted more and that was weird coming from him. I mean there was a time when he would not even consider doing something like that yet the feeling of her lips pressed against his gave him a shock just thinking about it he had actually told his mother about it afraid that there was something wrong with his body system but she just laughed and told him that if he didn't feel anything from his first kiss with the girl that he liked then he should be worried

He still didn't understand why his blood pressure rose when he thought of the kiss or when he thought of Anko for that matter I mean if this reaction was normal was that not because he was a male and because of the fact that men were natural perverts. This was what really had him stumped because Anko and Kurenai had a low tolerance for perverts so how was he supposed to behave like what his mother said was normal for men in a relationship to do with their partners when Anko and her best friend hated perverts. Seriously though relationships are very confusing on one hand having reactions to his girlfriend was normal but the said girlfriend was against any show of perverseness so the question was what the hell was he supposed to do

'_It's not like I can hide anything from Anko and come to think of it she nearly gave a guy a heart attack for looking at her the wrong way and who knows what she would have done to me if I didn't ask her out yesterday I don't think I want to tempt fate by showing those kind of reactions with her who knows what she would do besides I have another problem on my hands'_

This problem was simple; today he and his parents were going to see Sasuke and he was not sure how that visit would go down I mean it seemed like a good idea when he suggested it yesterday but right now he was starting to feel a little nervous about this. There was a very good chance that this would end badly because before now it was him and Sasuke versus their clan and parents but now that he was going to stand with his parents and he did not know how Sasuke would take it, if he would feel like he was ganging up with his parents to betray Sasuke and the last thing he wanted to do was to lose his little brother over this or have to choose between them

'_Guess I won't know until I try'_

So he got up, brushed and had his bath then dressed up it was 8am in the morning when he left his room and headed to the kitchen for breakfast and part of him was wondering if he had dreamt up yesterday but that notion was quickly banished when he entered the kitchen and saw his parents on the kitchen table very interested in each other's mouths and body and with this image Itachi's appetite went out the window with a large stone tied around it and dropped into the ocean

He just stood there shell-shocked wondering why the hell he was still looking and why where they not stopping but one thing that he knew for sure was that he was never going to near that table ever again until he burns it to the ground and if possible below the ground and then he would use a 20 foot broom to sweep the ashes out and disinfect the entire kitchen for three days

Mikoto moaned

Screw that he would burn down the whole kitchen until even the ash turned to dust and even then he would burn the dust after which he would go and see a Yamanaka and have them wipe his memory of this very traumatizing experience Kami if he thought war was scarring watching his parents on his kitchen table with their hands and mouths everywhere moaning made war seem like a cake walk but the real scarring moment was when his father removed his mother's top and bra and put his mouth on it! After that Itachi took off running he simply could not take it anymore he didn't even care where he went he just took off

"Ugh why did you drag me out here at 8am in the morning Anko?"

"Simple Nai-chan since you, Itachi and I are going to be teammates you need to know our secret training area so that you will know where to find us"

"Yes you told me what I missed since I have been gone I just don't know why we are here this early don't you have something against waking up before noon?"

"Yep I just wanted to come here"

Kurenai smirked knowingly "looks like someone is missing her boyfriend"

Anko glared at her giggling best friend "I am not"

"Oh you don't well why else would we be here this early" Kurenai looked at Anko with a smile that made her pissed "at the place where you and your boyfriend _secretly_ hang"

"Train we train here" Anko's eyes were twitching

"You want to tell me that you guys have never hung out here before?"

"No we have not"

"Really"

"That's what I said wasn't it?"

"I see so then why are you constantly checking the place as if you are looking for something or someone?"

Anko knew she had been caught but she sure as hell was not about to admit it "I am simply checking out my environment like any good Shinobi would do"

"Great idea let us be suspicious of the training area known to only you and Itachi at 8am in the morning during a peace time"

'_Damn her and her intelligence so what if I am waiting for Itachi to come I am not missing him I just want to see him and ask how his night went nothing more nothing less'_

Kurenai having an idea of where Anko's thought process was going smiled genuinely at her friend "You know there is nothing wrong in missing your partner right it doesn't make you any less of a badass it just means that you're human"

Anko was saved from replying when Itachi burst through the foliage looking like he had just seen a ghost he looked so scared and traumatized that it sent Anko's blood pressure through the roof she dashed to him armed just in case whatever scared him followed him here

"Itachi what's wrong?"

The last time he came here looking crazy he acted pissed and confused but now he just seemed brain dead his face was so pale and he was barely breathing her first thought was poison so she took him by hand and led him to a tree and helped him sit down then she checked him for a wound where the poison would have entered through but she did not find one and she started to freak out because that meant that he ingested it and considering the fact that he wasn't breathing properly he probably inhaled it and there was nothing she could do about that

"Anko before you freak out calm down okay he will be fine"

Anko tried to calm her racing heart but that went out the window when she saw Kurenai inject her chakra into him. Now this was done to shock someone and she did not see how shocking a person who had been poisoned helped do anything but kill them faster but just before she throttled her friend she noticed that Itachi snapped back to normal and regained his lost colour back she was too shocked to do anything so Kurenai asked

"Itachi, do you know who we are?"

Itachi locked onto them and said "Anko and Kurenai" in a very weak and scarred tone

Anko got her voice back and sat by her boyfriend

"What happened?"

Kurenai sat down at the opposite side also interested in what sent the usual calm and collected Uchiha into shock

Itachi just stared into space and started to shake his head "I need to find a Yamanaka"

"Why?" asked Kurenai "I thought sharingan users did not need any help remembering things"

"I don't want to remember anything I want to wipe a memory from my brain"

"What memory Tachi-chan?"

"The memory of my parents on my kitchen table kissing and doing other things to each other" he started shuddering violently with his eyes wide and terrified

Anko looked at Kurenai and then back at Itachi "so all this because you saw your parents doing the deed"

He just assumed a fetal position with his knees up and his hands wrapped around them with his face in the centre and then he started rocking back and forth

5

4

3

2

1

Anko and Kurenai busted out laughing their asses off, the brave and unemotional Uchiha had lost his cap because he saw his parents doing the deed that was pure gold and Kami help the Uchiha if this story got out their hard ass reputation will go straight down the drain forever

"I don't see how any of this is funny I will never be able to look at my parents or that table the same way ever again"

"Damn straight you won't" Anko continued laughing until she started crying "Dear Kami Itachi hahahaha"

Kurenai could not talk she was laughing so hard her ribs hurt

Itachi did not see how any of this was funny did they not understand that he was scarred for life there are things that you can never unsee once they are captured by your eyes and brains even if you wipe them out they have already become part of your subconscious mind so there will always be a part of you that remembers

Anko stopped laughing for now to look at Itachi and she smiled at how innocent he was, he really looked scared so she went to him removed him from his fetal position and wrapped her arms around his neck and had him face her

"Your parents love each other Itachi and you should be happy that they are not afraid to show it"

"I will never forget that it is burned into my mind"

"As it should look when two people are in a relationship they share intimacy with each other and that includes kissing and groping and caressing and many more"

"I would have thought that you would not like that since you hate perverts"

Now Anko knew she had a problem she needed to convince Itachi that perverts were bad but being sexually attracted to his girlfriend and only his girlfriend was not only good but encouraged because while she wanted to have a faithful boyfriend she did not want to date a monk that would be unacceptable

"Listen yes perverts are bad they are not good people however when you are dating someone intimacy with that person and that person alone shows how much you love them and it shows them that you care about their feelings and you are not afraid to show them that you care about them. Intimacy is a very good thing for couples to do with each other as it strengthens the bond between them and sometimes they just do it because it is fun"

"So my parents were having fun doing *shudder* those things together and I should not feel weird about it at all?"

"No you should not feel weird about it at all in fact you should feel happy that your parents are free and in love with each other, them making out means that they are happy and that is one of the ways that they show it besides who knows your mother may get pregnant and you could have a new sibling on the way"

"Wait that is where kids come from"

Kurenai at this point had gotten herself under control and decided to watch in silence as Anko explained the baby making process to a very red-faced Itachi the only thing missing was some popcorn and a couch because this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and another thing that she knew for sure was that being part of this team will never get boring period

"So do you get it?"

"Hai" he decided to take a leap and ask what he was thinking about this morning so that way he would know just what her stand on that was "so it is okay for me to be sexually attracted to you and for me to feel *shiver* certain things when I think about you"

Anko raised an eyebrow at the tone of the question "have you been thinking about me in that way?"

"Um I uh maybe"

Anko smirked like a tiger who had just cornered his meal "so what do you think of when you picture me?"

"Uh nothing uh" he would have tried to escape but Anko's hold on his neck suddenly tightened into something worryingly like a death grip and that made him very uncomfortable

"Now, now, now Tachi-chan why don't you tell me the truth" a sadistic smile plus having something slither down his back and around his waist was all it took to convince Itachi that talking would be far less painful than keeping quiet

"I think about kissing you" _'dear Kami just kill me now'_ he literally wanted the ground to open up and swallow him, his face was deep red and he could not look Anko in the eye and he swore he heard laughter behind him _'please let her allow me to stop there'_ but of course Fate is a bloody bitch

"And what else?"

Itachi gulped then he closed his eyes "please don't make me say it"

Anko however simply smirked and the slithering object that had settled around his waist woke up and started to make its way down and that was all the motivation that Itachi needed

"I thought about holding you and then I stopped because I did not want to be a pervert, I swear that's it"

Thankfully the object disappeared then Anko used her thumbs to open his eyes and he saw her with a serious face on so he knew that she wanted him to pay attention to what she was saying and frankly he was just happy that the embarrassment was over and done with otherwise for a second there he thought that his head would explode from blushing so hard

"I love you Itachi Uchiha and the last thing that I want is for you to change or alter who you are just to please me. You saved me and loved me when I was at my darkest place when I had given up hope on myself and at a point when everybody else would have run for the hills with a damn good reason. I was not just a killer I massacred people and enjoyed it three people are not just dead because of me their bodies are beyond recognition. But yet when you saw me you still cared, I cried in arms without the fear that you would consider me weak because I knew that you loved me in spite of everything wrong with me so please don't deny me the chance to do the same for you, okay?"

He did not know what to say that was the last thing that he ever thought he would hear from her after what just happened but he could see the look in her eyes and he knew that she meant every word at that moment he knew that he was never going to be able to push this girl away she really did love him and she was right

"Hai"

Anko smiled but then she said in a demonic voice "however if you ever take advantage of me I will make sure that you can only pee through a straw attached to your lower waist because I will completely remove your balls and penis, understood?"

Itachi nodded many times with a scared look on his face "Hai I understand"

"Good" and with that out of the way she kissed him for two seconds and pulled back but kept her lips inches away from his, Itachi then looked deep into her eyes as if to ask for permission and she drew closer and he completed the distance

Kurenai decided to give the kissing couple some space so she stood up and went to check the training area out because if this was going to be their training ground then she needed to know every inch of it and when she was done she was going to have breakfast and probably go back to sleep since Anko now had someone else to disturb

After about three minutes of lip lock then couple pulled apart Anko then asked "so how was that?"

"It was nice" she had to admit looking up at Itachi's soft dark eyes was making her blush a little especially since it had all the love she wanted in them with just a hint of lust Itachi however seemed to find her sudden shyness to be adorable but he was not about to say that he liked his body parts a little more than that so he placed his hand on her cheek which she leaned into

"You look so beautiful"

This time Anko blushed for real and she didn't even know why I mean it was a compliment guys tell her that all the time but maybe it was because she was hearing it from her guy that made the difference her thought process was broken when Itachi laid down on the grass and pulled her down until she was laying down beside him the position they were in plus the look he was giving her was making her temperature rise especially when he raised one of his knees up and rolled to his side with his elbow supporting him and his hand still on her cheek

Itachi at this time was going on instinct not really sure what he was doing but he just wanted to and since Anko was not stopping him he continued he dipped his head down and kissed her again but unlike the first one that felt sweet and innocent this one was electric and Itachi could feel his heart rate start to rise and a certain part of his anatomy started to wake up

Anko was not going to just lay there so she wrapped her hands around his neck and deepened the kiss Itachi put one hand under her head while the other went on her waist then just as things were about to get good they heard someone cough behind them really hard they stopped kissing and looked at the person only to come face to face with the last person the Itachi wanted to see them together like this

'_Oh shit'_

"So this is Anko"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Mom what are you doing here?" asked a mortified Itachi the last thing that he wanted was to have his mother see him and Anko in this kind of position simply because he had a feeling that he will not hear the end of it and he was already dating someone who loved to torment his life he did not need his mother doing it too

"Well when your father and I were done in the kitchen with breakfast *shudder* he went to see Sasuke while I went looking for you but when I did not see you in your room I figured that you would be here training and I wanted to make sure that you had something to eat but this is something else Itachi-chan I did not know you had it in you"

"MOM"

"Well Mrs Uchiha he has that and a lot more mmmm" said Anko who could not miss an opportunity to embarrass her boyfriend the said boyfriend was so red in the face that Mikoto thought he would burst but at this point she couldn't help it

"So Anko dear would you like to see some of Itachi's old pictures?"

"What no!"

"I would love to if you throw in some of his great embarrassing moments"

"NO"

"Why of course those are very important stories that must be told"

"MOM PLEASE"

"So would you lead the way Mrs Uchiha?"

"Please call me Mikoto I mean after all my son seems to be very interested in you"

"Oh yes he is Mikoto-san he is very interested"

The giggling females left to the house for drinks and cookies with a traumatized Itachi following them like a zombie _'Kami kill me now please I plead with you just kill me now before my mother shows Anko those pictures or tells her anything please if I never ask for anything I am asking for this'_ Kami however paid no mind to the embarrassed Uchiha feeling that he needed to loosen up

On the other side of the village Fugaku was also making a prayer he was close to the Sozen estate and he knew that this was going to be a very tough thing to do Sasuke unlike Itachi did not have any good memories of him only the bad ones so before Sasuke would forgive him he knew it would not be easy that was why he had decided to come alone he was responsible for Sasuke's pain and he needed to bare his son's hatred and anger alone because the last thing that he wanted to do was to come between the two brothers and that is exactly what he would do if Itachi had come with him

Even if his son did not believe him or even want anything to do with him he won't stop being his father he knew it would be difficult to make Sasuke truly believe that he loved him but Fugaku was determined to show his little boy that he loved him and that would never change he would fight and earn his son's love and respect one way or the other but the hardest part was always making the first move and asking his five year old son to forgive him for ignoring him all his life, this would not be easy at all

'_But it needs to be done I just hope he doesn't hate his mother. Mikoto deserves to have her boys both of them with her and showing her all the love and respect that she deserves especially after all the pain and hurt that I have put this family through please let him at least listen to what I have to say that is all I ask for please Kami let him at least sit down and listen to what I have to say'_

Knocking on the door was a lot easier than he thought it would be but he at least got that out of the way now he just had to wait for the person coming to open up

To say that Kari was shocked to find Uchiha Fugaku at her front door at this time of the day would be the understatement of the century she literally did not know what to say

"May I come in Sozen-san?"

'_And polite too'_ she checked outside just to be sure that the world was not ending then she closed the door and waited a couple of seconds later then she opened it again to find an amused Fugaku

"Would you like to pinch yourself?"

"Uh what um wait was that a joke?"

"Was it funny?"

Kari was standing mouth agape at her door staring at what she did not understand after all the times that she had seen the Uchiha he was never really sociable but here he was making jokes! What the hell happened?

"I find it quite sad that you find me being sociable to be so dumbfounding"

"Have you met you? You not a sociable person hell at one point I was not even sure if you were a nice person"

"I can understand that, so may I come in?"

"Why?" she had to ask

"I would like to see Sasuke"

"To what end Uchiha"

"I would like the opportunity to explain myself to him and help him understand that I don't hate him"

"You have done a hell of a job of confirming your hatred of him what changed?"

"I realized that I did not have my boys and my wife was hurting from our broken family I know that I am responsible so I came here alone to try and fix it"

"Why for your conscience sake?"

"No because I miss my little boy and unlike Mikoto I don't have any memory of Sasuke being happy only what my wife tells me and I don't want that anymore I want to be able to watch my boy grow up"

"You want to take him back?"

"No the clan right now is not safe for him my change of heart has upset the Elders and their followers and I don't want Sasuke to be in that kind of environment he has been through enough as it is"

"Give me one good reason why I should allow you in Uchiha"

"I don't have one"

"Damn right you don't have one" Kari looked at him and then sighed "fine come in"

"Thank you"

"Have a seat Sasuke is still asleep"

"It is 9am he is usually awake at this time"

"Yes well he has been training and he is exhausted"

Fugaku smiled _'like mother like son Mikoto always liked training herself to exhaustion and Kami help the fool who dared wake her up'_

"Would you like me to wake him up?"

"No if he is anything like his mother then that will be a bad idea I will wait if that is okay by you"

"Yeah sure" she picked up a book basically announcing that she was not interested in talking to him Fugaku smiled and then sat in a meditative pose and closing his eyes zoned out once again surprising Kari who was expecting some kind of statement about how she did not serve him anything or completely ignored him _'bah I bet he won't wait for long before he starts behaving like a dick again' _with that she went back to her reading

An hour passed and Fugaku still had not moved a muscle Kari was impressed but she knew that the boys were making their way back from dreamland right about now and they would probably wake up in at least thirty minutes so she stood up and went to get breakfast ready once again ignoring the meditating Uchiha she was not going to crack first and talk

Thirty minutes later breakfast was ready and yet Fugaku had still not moved an inch from where he was meditating and at this point Kari was very impressed but she knew that if she did not get him out of that trance soon then Sasuke will walk in and find his father meditating in her living room and she was not going to be the one to explain why that was his job whether or not he sucked at it was yet to be seen

"Oi Uchiha wake up they will soon wake up"

Fugaku opened his eyes and reset his sitting position to a normal one and waited

Kari noticed that he seemed to get a little nervous and while under normal circumstances she would have tried to calm him down this was not a normal circumstance by any means so she sat at the table and continued reading

Thanks to their advanced hearing they heard the boys wake up and use the shower and then 20 minutes after they last spoke the boys came out chatting about something

"Good morning Baa-chan" they said not noticing the that there was somebody in their living room

"Good morning boys"

Fugaku looked at his boy and he was happy that Sasuke seemed to be at home here among his friends last night Itachi had given him the report on what was going on since he placed Sasuke in Kari's hands and looking at his little boy now he knew that Itachi had done the right thing in bringing Kari into the picture Sasuke really looked comfortable here

'_I guess the Uchiha does care for his son after all hmm good for him now how long will it take for them to notice him'_ and of course when it came to sensory skills you could always count on the Kyuubi

"**Kit you do know that there is someone behind you right?"**

"Uh" Naruto turned around to face Fugaku "who the hell are you ttebayo?"

The boys turned as well Sasuke however became wide-eyed "Dad?"

"Uh wait that's your ass of a father" two guesses who

Sasuke was too shocked and scared to say anything Fugaku however smirked at the comment shocking Sasuke further

"Dad what are you doing here?" the young child was scared that his father was here to drag him back to the clan compound and Fugaku noticed but while he did not want Sasuke in the compound just yet he did not want him to think that he could not come if he wanted to or that he was not welcome there anymore because he most definitely is

"Right now Sasuke I just want to talk"

"Why?"

"Well I have failed when it comes to being your father and I am not even worthy to be called your dad; a dad is someone who is there for you and makes sure that you know he loves you more than anything and I have not done that at all with you I have missed on watching you grow up all these years because I was hurt and scared and angry but none of that is your fault"

"Then why did you not look at me? It was always Itachi and the things he did I never met anything to you what makes you think that I believe you"

"I honestly don't expect you too I only hope that you would let me explain"

Sasuke exploded "Explain what dad?! How you cast me aside because I was not what you wanted?! Well I am sorry that I was never good enough for you! I am sorry that you hated me so much that you could not bear to look at me! WHY DON'T YOU GO BACK TO CARING ABOUT ITACHI?! HUH I BET YOU WERE ALWAYS WISHING THAT I DROP DEAD!"

There was nothing as painful as hearing your child say such awful things to you with such hurt and pain in his voice and tears running down his eyes it was the worst feeling in the world but he knew that he had to keep trying he needed to show Sasuke that he meant what he was saying and that he was not just being a nice guy so he dashed to his boy and held him in arms immediately Sasuke started fighting Kari took Naruto and Sai outside to give them some space

Sasuke tried as hard as he could to break out of father's hold but he couldn't "let me go, let me go, let me go"

Fugaku put his right hand on Sasuke's back and his left on the back of his head "I let you go once and it was the worst decision of my life I won't make that mistake ever again"

"I trusted you I looked up to you and you treated me like I didn't matter why should I ever believe you?!"

"Because I love you Sochi I love you"

Sasuke stopped fighting and just wept on his father's shoulder Fugaku carried him and then sat on the couch with Sasuke on his lap and kept rubbing Sasuke's back until he calmed down

"I am so sorry Sasuke"

"Why dad just tell me what I did that made you hate me that much"

"Oh my boy" Fugaku's tone told Sasuke that he was genuine and his father's eyes were filled with guilt and love for him for the first time in his life but Sasuke needed to know

"Just please dad if you love me like you say you do then tell me why did you treat me like that?"

"I had two siblings that meant the world to me; a brother and a sister. Our father is not the best in the business so it was just us against the world our mom died when we were little so he was the only parent that we had. A few years ago the clan Elders wanted us the Uchiha to be more aggressive in getting the respect that they thought we deserved but we stood against them together but a little over five years ago they died and it was just me against the Elders and I couldn't handle it I was so hurt and angry that I had lost them that I threw myself into my clan head duties

Your mother was so good she understood and took care of you boys and told me everything I was almost never home so I did not see you until you turned one and when I did I couldn't bear to look at you, you looked so much my brother that it hurt, whenever I saw you I remembered that I couldn't save my brother and he died right in front of me you are an Uchiha if you see something with your sharingan it stays with for life I saw the mangled bodies of my siblings with my sharingan and I have never forgotten it

I know it sounds stupid now but I did not want to allow you see that amount of pain in my eyes so I just stopped looking but that does not mean that I stopped caring I always asked your mother how you were and I know from her that you love tomatoes in any form like my mother I know that you picked up a love for archery and that you hate attending clan lessons with a passion look I know I messed up Sasuke I know"

"Do you still see him when you look at me?"

Fugaku smiled at him and pulled him into his chest and held him close "I do but now instead of his dying body I see my brother as he was; strong, funny, dependable, and headstrong and I also see my little boy that I don't have any memories of but I am hoping that I can make some now hopefully it is not too late to get to know my son"

Sasuke was scared "how do I know that this is real and not just a lie?"

Fugaku reached inside his shirt and removed a necklace from it; it had the Uchiha clan symbol and shape and at the centre was a flame. He then placed the necklace on Sasuke's neck "this belonged to my mother she gave it to me and told me that if I was ever scared or alone all I had to do was clasp the necklace and know that she would always be there with me no matter how far away we were from each other"

"You got scared dad?"

"Yes Sasuke I did and I still do now if you are scared just clasp the necklace and know that your mother and I and your grandmother will always be right there with you no matter what, okay?"

Sasuke held his new necklace and looked up at his father with hopeful eyes "promise me that you will always be there for me dad"

Fugaku almost shed a tear in happiness "I promise little one I will always love you no matter what"

Sasuke smiled and embraced his father and he felt a hole in his heart close up nicely and he was so happy "can I see mom?"

"Absolutely just go and tell Kari-san that you want to visit and we can go"

Sasuke got stars in his eyes and just when he wanted to dash towards the backyard to ask Kari for permission he saw her in the hall and she nodded at him to go be with his family

"She said yes!"

"Alright then let us go I am sure your mom can't wait to see you"

Despite the assurance Sasuke was still a little apprehensive the entire journey back home and when they got to the door of his house his anxiety levels jumped so he grabbed hold of his father's hand as they entered only to find Itachi in the living room staring mortified at a strange girl who was looking at their family photos with his mother

'_Who is she?'_

Fugaku had the same question "Hello"

"Fugaku you are back did you see Sasu…Sasuke!" Mikoto dashed at her younger son and enveloped him in her arms and spun around and then placing him back on the ground she assaulted him with kisses frightening the poor boy

"Mom, mom okay mom okay"

"Oh my beautiful boy you're home have you had breakfast yet?"

Well that answers the question of whether his mother would want him back or not but he still wanted to know who the girl was "mom who's that?"

"Oh dear sorry Anko I forgot myself there, Fugaku Sasuke this is Anko Mitirashi Itachi's girlfriend and Anko this is my husband Fugaku and my son Sasuke"

"Girlfriend ewwwww Aniki has a girlfriend?"

"Aw your little brother is so cute Itachi nice to meet you Fugaku-san"

"Pleasure to meet you as well Anko Itachi has told us a lot about you"

"Hai all good I hope"

"Indeed have you all had something to eat?"

"Hai"

"Sasu-chan what are you doing?"

Sasuke had left his parents side and went to his brother's side and started poking him "what happened to Aniki Kaa-chan?"

Mikoto laughed along with Anko "oh Sasuke Itachi is just fine he is just embarrassed"

"Why is he embarrassed eep!" Itachi had grabbed Sasuke by his arm and placed him on his back with such speed that it left Sasuke very disoriented

"Nice to see you Otouto"

"Aniki that wasn't fair"

"Hey why don't we head out to breakfast together so I can meet your little brother Itachi?"

"Can we?"

"Of course have fun but please remember to drop him off at Kari-san's place he needs to join in on their daily training" said Mikoto she kissed both boys on the cheek and gave Anko a hug with a promise to have lunch at some point something that Itachi was not sure he wanted to be around for

"Be careful you three" said Fugaku sending Itachi a look as if to remind him of exactly why he said be careful the last thing they needed right now was for them to run into the Elders that would not end well at all Itachi nodded in understanding and then the trio left

After locking the door Mikoto turned to face Fugaku with a look that screamed of lust "bedroom now" she commanded and Fugaku of course obeyed

**LEMON **

She entered first and then she wore a seductive smile as she walked backwards towards the bed slowly and removed all her clothes; first to go was her top and as she pulled it over her head she stretched and moaned she then caressed her breasts moaning all the way as she removed her bra. Tying up her hair in a ponytail revealing her neck line and giving full view of her C cup then she removed her Shinobi style pants caressing her legs and gasping at intervals leaving her in only her panties and an inch from the bed so she sat on the bed and led a path from her neck to her breasts down her toned stomach to her centre and then using a kunai from nowhere cut it, the cold metal caused her to gasp and moan at the same time

Fugaku stood at the door with his mouth open and his member aching as he watched her move up on the bed and say

"Fugaku" she whispered "I hurt help me"

That was all the motivation that he needed to sharply remove all his clothes and jump on the bed

"Please take care of me"

Fugaku used a rope to tie Mikoto's hands to the head of the bed then he traced her neck line and breasts slowly causing her to moan and arch her back he dipped his head and used his tongue to do the same thing only occasionally using his teeth to scrape against her skin ever so slightly

"Hmmm ah"

He then cupped her breasts in his hands and then started rubbing them slowly and firmly but every so often he would use he chakra to give her a little shock and then used his tongue to ease her back after which he used his mouth to suck her right breast aggressively while still massaging the boobs and then after a few minutes he popped his mouth back and blew on the nipple and then did not do the same to the other one

Instead he went for her neck line kissing it and slightly biting it ever so softly and then after a few minutes he gave attention to her left breast giving it the same treatment that he gave the right one all throughout Mikoto just kept moaning and she kept pushing her breast upward asking him to stop being a tease but he paid no mind to her instead he removed his hands from her breast causing her to moan in disappointment

But then he put his hands in a claw like fashion with chakra on his fingertips and then he started to trace her body and then he kissing and used his tongue from her breast down to her abdomen to her lower waist and then jumped to her knees

"Fugaku" Mikoto wanted him to stop teasing her she wanted it bad and she wanted it now

He however used his mastery of his nature element to heat up her knees and thighs but then he would use his tongue on whatever point he heated up and then blow on that spot cooling it instantly and he did so all over her thighs down to her aching wet pussy and he hovered

Mikoto wasn't having that she pushed herself forward but Fugaku caught her and held her steady frustrating her

"I am going to fuck you so hard Fugaku I swear I will bang you so hard your dick will hurt for a week, now fuck me fuck me"

Fugaku did not answer her instead he started placing butterfly kisses around her pussy and just when Mikoto was going to scream he inserted his tongue inside her with his teeth scraping her sides and it felt so good he twirled his tongue in her and then used his teeth to bite her outer lips and then used his hands to shock her at the same time sucking on her insides rolling his tongue inside of her Fugaku touched her sweet spot and due to the entire foreplay and the build up inside of her Mikoto came crashing on his face

He did not mind he swallowed every last drop of her cum and then cleaned her up with such a care that it made her wet again after that knelt in between her and slowly entered into her causing her to moan and demand a faster pace but Fugaku waited still he was all in her. One thing that Mikoto loved about her husband was that he fit her perfectly and fully

He then grabbed her thighs and raised her legs which she then wrapped around his waist then he started to move slowly at first and then faster

"Yes finally yes fuck me Fugaku fuck me harder yes faster, faster oh fuck yeah fuck me oh, oh ah yes, yes oh yes"

He had also started groping her breasts and massaging it. The sound of flesh hitting flesh filled the room along with Mikoto's moaning and dirty mouth encouraging him to go at an even faster and harder pace

"Yes oh yes more, more don't stop keep going yes oh fuck me hard ah, ah, ah yes fuck me ahhh Fugaku I'm going to cum ah, ah yes AHHHHH!"

They came together in spades when they were done Fugaku collapsed beside his wife and removed her ties Mikoto then climbed on top of him "tired?"

Fugaku smirked "not even close"

Two hours later

The couple was spooning together in bed Mikoto looked up at her husband "that was amazing but damn you are such a tease"

Fugaku chuckled "I like to enjoy it and judging from your dirty mouth you did too"

She playfully hit on his arm "I would have enjoyed it better if you just did it"

"Yes I am sure you would" he then kissed her deeply when he pulled back he looked into her eyes "I love you"

"Aw I love you too dear"

**LEMON END YOU CAN OPEN YOUR EYES NOW**

Meanwhile

Koharu was making her way to Danzo's office to meet with him and Hotaru so that she can make her petition clear; the days of planning and talking are done in her mind it was time to take action and she will have her way one way or the other because if Kakashi thought that he could do away with her any which way he liked and get away with it well he was in for a rude awakening because nobody messed with her and got away with it scot-free, the weird thing about her was the fact that her eyes were pure black

She didn't bother knocking she just barged right in Danzo looked up from his desk at her with his usual unemotional gaze and Hotaru was sitting on the chair by the wall reading a book so basically she was the only one who was even showing any emotions the both of them were just sitting there like nothing on the planet was wrong well she was not having that, grabbing Hotaru's book she chucked it at Danzo's desk denting it

"Koharu-san"

"Shut up Hotaru before I chuck your balls next, Danzo do you want to tell me when we are going to strike or should I assume that you are every bit the old man that you claim to be"

"Be careful who you speak to in such a manner Koharu I do not answer to you"

"If you don't do something soon then I will and believe me Danzo I will not hold anything back"

"You are becoming emotional and rude and forgetful this race is not for the swift but the one who is one step ahead of the game"

"Oh really is that so? So then you know that Kakashi and his advisors have planned to kill the Third and then use the smoke screen to investigate the ANBU and all its divisions' right?"

Danzo sat up straight "what are you talking about they can't kill the Third without opening themselves up for screening as well and the village council does not have the resources or personnel to thoroughly investigate all the members of the ANBU division and besides Sarutobi knows better"

"Oh yes you are such a genius well their plan is to say that the Sandaime had information on a rogue unit of the village with evidence that shows unexplainable missions carried out by the said unit and that was why he was attacked and the attack put him in a near death state"

"Even then all of that are circumstantial at best black ops missions are as common as deep blue skies and they will be viewed as conspirators or paranoid individuals trying to manipulate the council"

"My, my you are right but then how come they have blood samples that will lead to a concrete conclusion that the individuals that attacked the Sandaime are living in Konoha but not on any real record to a council that now comprises of the ANBU and Hunter Nin commanders; this is Konoha Danzo all you have to do is suggest, vaguely insinuate and everybody will form their own conclusions and you know just how this will affect us"

Koharu watched in glee as her bombs settled in because he knew that she was right; if everyone suddenly became aware that there were shadows in the village then everything that they did will be put into jeopardy because their strongest power was that no one knew that there was even a shadow in the village now they will be looking out for a unit of them it will not only unify the village under Kakashi it will damage their operations heavily and possibly expose them all

Danzo frowned in anger "this child is really starting to get on my nerves with his persistence if it were not for the fact that he is messing with my personal goals I would consider him a worthy opponent but now he is a thorn in my side that must be removed immediately but we must do this discreetly"

Koharu smiled insanely "yes so when do we kill them?"

"We are not going to kill anyone of them not yet that will only cause problems for us"

Koharu gritted her teeth in rage "what the hell are you talking about now? More manipulations will only be countered by the fool who considers himself Hokage we need to do something that will assure our place in this village and talking is not going to do anything for us"

A shot of Danzo's full KI hushed Koharu up sharply she did not want to anger him as that will be a very bad idea he was stronger than her by far after all

"Learn your place or I will teach it to you the hard way now listen to me there are three crucial elements that we need to change we will capture these people and clone them the clones will be loyal to us and they will represent the kidnapped people for us; Kakashi, Kari and Naruto Uzumaki. I am tired of waiting to have the boy you and Hotaru will go after the boy and Kari I will get the cloning process ready once you bring them here alive they need to be alive I don't care if they are missing all of their body parts as long as their human heart is beating it won't matter

We will clone them and then use them to lure Kakashi in and then capture him too after which we will speed up our timeline by having Kakashi make laws that will benefit us and our goals and then when the situation is stable we will remove Kakashi from view and then rule the village ourselves with an iron fist no more hiding in the dark it is time the citizens of this village learned who their true master is as will the world. Now wait for nightfall then strike remember do not let anyone see you so use the teleportation technique that we developed and transport them to a far location and then strike"

"Um I have a question Danzo-sama"

"What is it Hotaru?"

"Why don't we just teleport them here straight away instead of having to fight them?"

"Simple the cloning process will take some time so they need to be as weak as possible so that there are no complications during the process moreover the people that you are going after are capable of causing a strong amount of damage if they are given the chance and we can't afford to bring that kind of attention to ourselves it is also why I want you to do the battle outside the village"

"When?" asked Koharu

"I will need to find the perfect moulds for their forms so give me till this evening then strike and Koharu I want you to tell me how you got this information"

"I was not invited to the advisor's meeting with the Hokage however I know the secretary to the Hokage who kept the minutes that Kakashi had put in confidential lockup so that I won't be able to read it I managed to convince her that as an advisor I am entitled to know what was discussed without asking the Hokage I was not able to get a copy though"

"I see well at least you were discreet about this I would hate to find out that you let your emotions get the better of you and on an unrelated note stay away from Kakashi I can't risk you going off on him because you don't like him is that understood?"

"Hai" while it was not what she wanted it was close enough at least she got to attack someone to relive her pent up rage and Kakashi will get what's coming to him and in the end she gets to rule a whole village after she gets rid of Danzo of course then nothing will stand in her way

'_Win-win'_ she secretly laughed _'soon very soon'_

Later that afternoon

Itachi had just dropped off a very excited Sasuke at Kari's house alongside Anko but somehow Sasuke did not want Naruto to meet his female double so he hurried them off and after the kind of day that he just had Itachi was more than happy to go and have some rest and if possible try and regain his emotional state that had been stretched almost to breaking point Anko also wanted to go and check up on Kurenai and see what she was doing and with that Sasuke closed the door on them

"Oi teme you're back"

"Yeah dobe I'm back what's been going on?"

"Well nothing really we have just been chilling"

"Where is Sai and Baa-chan?"

"Sai wanted to learn how to make origami animals so Baa-chan took him to get materials they should be back soon"

"Why in the world does Sai want to learn that?"

"Don't look at me bro I stopped trying to figure Sai out when he said he liked to read books now I just go with the flow"

Sasuke had to admit that Naruto was right after the whole teaching thing with the magic blackboard he had started to suspect that Sai was not all right upstairs and now he wanted to learn origami? I mean what boy in his right mind would willingly want to learn origami it made no sense whatsoever to the young Uchiha

"So how did things with your dick of a father go?"

"I would like to know this as well"

The boys jumped together weapons drawn at the voice only to find Sai and Kari in the hallway looking very pleased

"Not funny you two you guys nearly gave me a heart attack ttebayo"

"Why didn't you use the front door damn it"

"Where is the fun in that?" said an amused Kari who was glad that the boys were sharp enough to group together and draw their blades that would come in handy if they were actually approached by an enemy

Sasuke noticed the bags and could not help himself "so you want to learn how to make origami animals Sai?"

Naruto face palmed _'you just had to ask now he won't shut up about this' _and true enough

"Indeed I wished to learn how to make origami animals so that I can know how all these amazing creatures work and interact with their environments the art of origami making is one the most ancient arts in the Land of Fire this is because back then they used this art to show creativity in making so many origami sculptures and presenting them to their audience. Legend even has it that the art came from the monks who wanted to forever preserved the things that they saw. They made an origami sculpture of all the legendary animals known to man and kept them inside the temple vault"

Naruto looked at Sasuke who shrugged then he turned back to Sai "wow that is actually impressive Sai"

"Yeah that was actually a very interesting speech"

"Thank you. Do you want to know how the monks came about the decision of using paper in making their sculptures?"

"Not even a little" said Naruto and Sasuke

"Oh" said Sai who was confused _'first they are interested in what I am saying and now they aren't I mean is that some kind of code for something'_

As Sai tried to comprehend his brothers' behaviour using his knowledge of phycology Kari was interested in knowing how Sasuke's day went but from what she could gather from the Uchiha's behaviour he did look better his eyes did not hold the same hurt look that they use to have under the surface it seemed like he had finally reconciled with his family and that was good

"I guess your day went good Sasuke-kun?"

"Hai Baa-chan"

"Oi tell us what happened I want to know"

"I am also interested in knowing this information"

"Tell you what why don't I make us a pot of tea and we can sit in the living room and talk this out in the meantime Sai go and put your stuff away Naruto get the books on origami in my library and give them to Sai and Sasuke why don't you go freshen up a little then meet back here"

"Hai Baa-chan" and with that the boys split up

A few minutes and a full brief later

"Wow that is definitely something Sasuke-kun"

"Yeah teme that is something"

"Do you believe them Sasuke?"

"I kind of don't really know yet Sai I mean everything seems to be a little too simple but the look is my dad's eyes were different so I guess I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt"

"That is the spirit Sasuke" said Kari "I am so proud of you and I am glad that your family is finally stepping up a little"

"Thanks Baa-chan"

"Alright well it is lunch time so what are you boys in the mood for?"

Naruto screamed "ramen!"

Now you see Naruto had been holding himself back from saying that he wanted to eat ramen because he thought that Kari could not make it but last night Kari had made one the best ramen he had ever had and so now Naruto knew that she could make it and he was going to take full advantage of that. Kari however knew that his love of ramen was inherited from his parents and it is practically sewn into his DNA but she would not have ramen for breakfast, lunch and dinner it was time to set down the law

"Alright listen up Naruto we will not have ramen for breakfast, lunch and dinner and we won't eat it every day but since I know how much you like it we will have three of our meals be ramen, so in a week you have three ramen slots and it would be up to you to choose when we eat it so in this week you have used up one of your slots and you have two remaining"'

"Aw man"

"I know you don't like it but it is for your own good eating ramen too many times in a row is guaranteed to end badly"

"How badly can it end Baa-chan?"

"Well Sai it can turn Naruto here into a scrawny midget" the image caused Sasuke to collapse in laughter and Naruto to turn pale

"You joking right Baa-chan I mean you are not being serious right?"

"Oh Naruto-kun I am being very serious too much ramen is a one way ticket to midget town"

"Damn" said Sasuke who was still reeling from laughing so hard at the image of a scrawny midget sized Naruto

Sai however said "what about eating too many tomatoes Baa-chan?"

That snapped Sasuke from his laughing fit and while he glared at Sai he said "there is no such thing as too many tomatoes"

"Actually Sasuke-kun there is"

"Ha take that teme"

"But Baa-chan tomato is a healthy fruit how can it be bad?"

"Sasuke-kun too much of water is bad for the body and if it exceeds that level the person could die"

"What?!" screamed the boys especially Sai who was thinking of getting a cup of water to drink right now

"Listen when you drink water it cleans the body and helps do so much good in your system but if you drink too much of it then your body will not have where to store it and it will just be gathering in your organs until they can't hold it then your organs start to stretch until the point where they start to complain by aching you at this point it will be very difficult to breathe without feeling there is a stone in your air bag"

"And what happens if you keep going?" asked Sai always wanting to know

"Well no one has been stupid enough to keep going but my guess is that they would lose the ability to breathe very quickly and because they would keep trying their lungs would start to inflate and with the water pressure in their bodies their lungs would be the first to pop violently after then their air bags would go and so would everything else. It would be a very slow and painful way to die"

"Damn ttebayo" said a scared Naruto Sai started to think of water very differently Sasuke was about to swear to never have more than a cup of water a day because Baa-chan was right it was a very painful way to die

Noticing their moods Kari decided to do something before her boys did something drastic and unnecessary "now boys, water is still a very essential need to the body and your body will tell you when to stop before you ever get to that point it only becomes deadly if you ignore your body's warning but let me just say that too much of anything is bad it does not matter what that thing is if it gets past a limit it becomes deadly so the trick here is moderation"

"What is that Baa-chan?"

"Well Naruto-kun moderation means that you realize that there is an extreme side of something most of the time your body will give you signs that you are approaching them if you listened to it closely enough; there is too much and there is not enough both of these have their bad sides so the key is to keep it in the middle not too much but not too small either the benefit of this is that it helps your body achieve peak performance because it is getting exactly what it needs"

"I would like to know what my body's needs are Baa-chan"

"Hmm well Sai that is not a bad idea nutrition and exercise are very important after all tell you what after lunch I will go and meet with a friend of mine who will give me everything that you boys need to know about nutrition this way you can take care of your body in the best possible way"

"Wait so more books?" while Naruto may want to train his body and take care of it at the same time he sure as hell did not want more books he has barely finished the ones that Baa-chan gave him to read he did not want more that was more Sai's thing not his

"Naruto you need to read books they are good for you"

"Too much of everything is bad and that includes reading right Baa-chan?"

As much as she hated to say it yes too much reading was bad for the brain as it stretched it above what it may want to take but she was not about to give Naruto a reason to slack in his studies "yes Naruto too much of reading is bad for your brain"

"Ha see so no more books ttebayo"

"But too little reading will turn you into a dense idiot who will believe anything that he is told because he doesn't know what is true and if you don't train your brain muscles by reading they will become dull and that is a very bad thing because that would mean that your brain will not be able to handle anything above novice level including your physical body so if you don't train your brain you will become all body no brain"

"Aw man but I don't want to read more books damn it"

"Dobe if I did not live with you I wouldn't know that you could read in the first place"

"Grrrr what was that teme?"

"Now, now boys cool it, Naruto I promise you will not regret picking up a book some of them are actually quite fun so who is in the mood for barbeque?"

Sai's hand shot up like lightning "I am Baa-chan"

Naruto and Sasuke laughed "I don't know what he loves more meat or books"

"Something tells me he would not mind both if it was possible"

4:00 pm

Kari was making her back from Chouza's house she had gone to get his professional opinion on exactly what her boys should be eating and in what ratio and somewhere along the line he also gave her some tips for herself as well now while she did not like to be reminded of how old she was she knew that she needed to hear him out at least and his advices were quite good so right now she was on her way back home and just as she passed her gate she felt something grab her and then teleport her away to another location and the person because what else could it be flung her backwards

Luckily she was able to right herself and land on her feet after standing straight she looked around and noticed that they were in the mountains a few miles outside of Konoha but the question was who brought her here

"Hello Sozen Kari"

'_That voice there is no way'_ looking up she saw that she was right Koharu was standing a few feet away from her but there was something different about the old bat her eyes first of all were pitch black including the part of her eyes that were supposed to be white and she looked excited for some reason _'I have a bad feeling about this'_

"You have nothing to say to me? Well that's okay because I have something to say to you it is payback time bitch I am going to show you why you should not piss off a demon"

'_Wait what?'_ "You mean to tell me that you are a demon?"

Koharu smirked, "scared Kari good you should be because I am going to beat the living shit of you"

'_Okay first good point she said beat not kill so she needs me alive so she will at least hold back some while I don't have to second of all I was right; demons are real and if I survive this then I have some insight on their strengths and weaknesses but if Koharu is here where is Danzo and Hotaru?'_

"So you decided to ditch your friends huh confident that you can take me out" the smile that she got in response chilled her to the bone

"My friends are taking care of your friends"

"What does that mean?"

"Now if I tell you where is the fun in that?"

"Knowing it would unbalance me, make me easier to beat up"

Koharu laughed but this time when she spoke it was different and deadly **"What makes you think that I need to unbalance you to win, puny human"**

'_Oh shit'_

Koharu did not change appearance but her KI flooded the area around them and considering the fact that they were surrounded by sheer drops on every side Kari was on very high alert and that perhaps is what saved her life because she did not see Koharu move only a small breeze and instinct prevented her from getting hit by her drop kick that created a small crater in the ground

"**Good at least you will be a small challenge for me human"**

Kari had to think fast or else she will get flattened thankfully she had minor sensory abilities and years of experience under her belt so right now her plan was to live long enough to come up with a plan and she had to stop thinking because she instinctively ducked what looked like a vicious haymaker to her head after this she rolled and jumped back

Now Koharu was up for some healthy competition so since she noticed that Kari had successfully dodged her two previous strikes she decided to up her game. Kari felt the release of chakra and gulped she then got into her stance and prayed that if she died that it was quick and painless once again instinct forced her to jump to avoid a sweep kick from Koharu and luckily for her she substituted herself with a rock because Koharu drove her foot up at her

She was tempted to attack at that opening but she did not want to risk it however if the smile on Koharu's face said anything it showed that she was enjoying herself

"**You would have made an adequate Basilisk human you are quite slippery"**

"Huh thanks?"

"**But I will get you my body is far stronger than yours as is my stamina I can do this all day"**

'_Great whoa'_

All of a sudden Koharu was right in front of her grabbing her and flinging her into the air she then jumped behind her in the air but luckily for Kari she substituted herself once more but at the moment she was starting to get scared this demon was fast she needed to find some way to tip the odds in her favour so as Koharu landed she watched her closely when she noticed the muscles her legs tense up she applied chakra to her feet and struck the ground in front of her and jumped backwards a little

The result was that Koharu stumbled before jumping back as well causing Kari to breathe _'so while she is fast she can't change course and that loses her some seconds and it looks like she does not have good reflexes at all so that means if I can do that again I can hit her at least I just hope she is not some indestructible beast or something that will end badly for me'_

"**You think that a little hole is going to stop me human? Think again"**

She was not fast enough this time and got a hard flying kick to her chest that rocked her whole body followed by a round kick to her side that sent her skidding dangerously close to the edge in pain _'damn she hits hard I need to focus otherwise she could kill me by accident and that will be very embarrassing'_

Getting up she barely substituted herself with a rock saving her from another drop kick that destroyed a small part of the edge "I thought you were aiming to beat me not kill me"

Koharu chuckled **"Scared human don't worry I am going to beat you up and while I need you alive I only need your heart working everything else is fair game"**

This was bad she had already sustained hits and she had dished out none now she is finding out that she was going to be maimed by a speed demon she needed to get her head in the game or risk losing it so she watched as Koharu's leg tensed up but she was not able to dodge fast enough and a kick to her waist sent her into the air once again this time she saw Koharu charged her with an uppercut but this time she hit an exploding clone

"**Gah"** the clone had been charged enough to remove her arm or so Kari thought because while it did take an arm the said appendage just grew back same as before **"your first hit congrats take it in because it will be your last there is nothing you can do that will kill me but please I love it when my prey has some bite in it keep trying" **and with that she charged her again with the intent of taking out her knees but once again she hit an exploding clone that took off her right leg

Now while she could heal very fast there was a limit if she lost too many body parts too quickly then her body will focus on her regenerative abilities but her speed and strength will suffer for it and she liked her speed too much to lose it because of some puny human so she focused on her senses**_ 'found you'_**

Kari was underground trying to come up with a plan while healing her body when out of nowhere a hand grabbed her and forced her out of the ground and sent her skidding backwards until once again she was at the edge _'this is getting old fast'_

Out of nowhere when she stood up she received a vicious uppercut to her chin then a kick to her back in the air sent her straight into the ground then Koharu landed on her back with both feet forcing her to cough up blood she then grabbed her hair and pulled her up and tossing up a little she used the back of her leg to grab her by her armpit and slam her on the ground on the other side of where she first landed

Kari at this point was bleeding and aching everywhere and her head was spinning she however had an opportunity to do some damage here and she intended to do just that she used her knee to jump up in a horizontal form then formed a fist and charged it with chakra and punched Koharu in the neck all within a spilt second sending the demon flying back with a broken and open neck

Kari watched in horror and fascination as Koharu snapped her neck back and her head healed but she also tried to heal herself as well and she popped a solider pill just in case but this time when Koharu charged her she could actually see her move; she saw her jump into the air and drop down with her legs extended to flatten her

'_How come I can see her move fuck I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth'_ she jumped out of the way and forming hand signs she said

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame bomb"

It hit Koharu dead on but when the smoke cleared she saw her heal her whole body back again

"**You** **are getting on my last nerve human you need to accept the fact that I am stronger than you and there is nothing you can do about it"** but the truth was that she was lying her speed and strength were now running on normal in favour of her healing powers and while she hated to admit it her opponent was not normal Kari was very fast and sharp for a human and if she was not careful then she would take her out, she needed a plan so going through her own hand signs she said

"**Infinite Darkness Jutsu"**

The whole area around Kari went dark but even though she knew the Second Hokage's jutsu this looked like a variant of it because while all of her senses were useless there was something in the air that was different all of a sudden she found that the air was hard to breathe in she started choking and because she had taken a few hits to her chest her lungs were not so tough any more so she fell to her knees holding her throat trying with all her might to breathe but she couldn't slowly she could feel herself passing out

Kari could not breathe, her lungs were screaming in pain but then it happened; the darkness left and Koharu was standing in front of her with a little sweat dropping down her forehead apparently the addition to the Infinite Darkness was more than the demon could handle for long periods but at the moment she herself was seeing stars and in no position to stand up and do anything and that pissed her off royally

Koharu smirked at her weakened prey **"not so strong now are you human?"**

Kari tried to stand or at least get up from the ground but she coughed up blood and fell back down she tried to push past the pain and get up she could not afford to give this kind of win to Koharu because demon or not Koharu was a bitch who needed to be put down and she refused to let herself just rest at Koharu's feet

"**Resilient as always Kari but it is worthless" **she then slammed her foot on Kari's back **"this is where you belong, like all humans, under my feet now stop trying to be a hero and give up besides even if you get up what then" **

Koharu laughed **"it is so funny your so-called grandson is next and yet he is a bigger threat than you"**

That did it Kari through some force of will rolled on the ground causing Koharu to lose her footing and then with speeds that she should not be capable of in her weakened state she charged and pumping chakra into her fist slammed it at Koharu's head sending the demon flying with the sound of her spine and neck cracking

"How does the ground taste bitch?"

Koharu stood on shaky legs and her wounds healed completely but she knew that if she received another blow like then it was game over for her and the fact that a human had reduced her to this state pissed the demon off something special and right now she was determined to screw Danzo's plan of bringing in Kari alive _'this ningen is going to pay for that'_

Kari on the other hand had one shot left before she collapsed and she needed to make it count but she needed time to get herself and her chakra together in order for it to work so she needed to buy some time

"So I guess you're a high level demon?"

"**I am as high as you are going to get ningen"**

"So they are demons stronger than you then?"

"**I am a D class demon and the last demon that you are going to see because today is the day you die"**

"So just how high does the chain of command go?"

"**Hmm well since you are dead I will tell you after all it is not like you will live to tell anyone anything. The highest level of demons is the SS class demons and they are far more powerful than I am but soon I will rule these lands and when I have found what I am looking for I will rule the demon world as well I will be queen"**

"Nice ambitions but I am afraid you are not going to be able to see it come through"

Koharu laughed **"What are you going to do about it, kill me? You can barely stand straight foolish ningen but don't worry I will make your death fast your grandson on the other hand, well between us girls he is going to suffer"**

Kari gritted her teeth in anger but she just had to hope that the boys could take care of themselves because after this one it was lights out for her so she got into a stance with her right hand hidden from view

"**Die human!"**

Koharu charged at Kari with her arm outstretched to give her a vicious close-line and from the amount of chakra bleeding off the arm if the blow connected then it will take her head clean off but she did not expect the kind of speed that Koharu was flying at and for a moment she saw her life flash before her eyes; every moment good or bad, funny or sad, fearful or inspired they all flashed before her eyes telling her one thing: there is more work to be done.

So with her head back in the game she ducked under Koharu's close-line arm and then almost in slow motion Kari flicked her index finger at Koharu's midsection with double the amount of chakra she put into her earlier blow concentrated into a single burst that gave a whole new definition to the word: indigestion. Koharu's entire midsection exploded, blood and body parts went flying everywhere

"**Damn"** the last thing Koharu said before she collapsed in two parts on the ground dead

Kari breathing very heavily whooped and then she took a deep breath and realized that she needed to get moving because if she collapsed here then nobody will ever know where she was so she needed to make it to a check-point or something because she was not going to die of exhaustion on a mountain range alone not after fighting and killing a D class demon but before she moved she popped another solider pill she will deal with the consequences of her decision later

'_I just hope the boys are okay' _

It was 4:30pm and the boys were outside playing in the pool behind the house a place where Kari told them that they could not play in unless she was around but she was not around and Naruto suggested that they head over to the pool after a long day well the plan quickly went to hell when he found out the hard way that he couldn't swim and neither could any of them

So right now they settled for just sitting by the pool enjoying the cool breeze not knowing that there was a pair of dark eyes watching them but of course nothing gets past a certain Bijuu

"**Kit tell your brothers to get their weapons and head to the outskirts of the compound"**

'_Why, what's wrong?'_

"**There is someone watching you and he is not a pushover so if you confront him here then it will attract attention and that will end badly"**

'_But shouldn't we allow back-up?'_

"**Trust me on this one Kit get your brothers and haul ass now"**

"Guys, be cool but Kyu says that there is someone watching us and that we should get our weapons and go to the back of the compound"

Knowing Kyu well enough to know that he was not the type to kid around they got their weapons and clothes and then started walking towards the edge of the compound which also led to the outskirts of the village and if you were not able to get into the compound it will be a pain trying to find their position

"Where is he now?" asked Sasuke with his right hand on Yamato

'_Kyu'_

"**Right behind you he's not doing anything it is almost like he is waiting for something to happen"**

'_Can he hear us?'_

"**Maybe kit be careful this guy is not normal"**

Relaying the information back to Sai and Sasuke they both frowned Sai then asked "not normal how"

"I have no clue maybe he has a bloodline limit or something"

"That can't be it I have a bloodline limit yet I am perfectly normal maybe it is chakra or scent"

"Kyu can't smell stuff that good from inside of me so it has to be chakra but then how can a chakra capacity be abnormal"

"If it is contaminated, no think about it. Water is clean and colourless on a normal basis but if you put a dark substance like ink into it then it will change colour"

"So you are saying that someone dropped ink into his chakra? That doesn't make any sense ttebayo"

"Not ink Naruto I mean what if he added something to his chakra human chakra is not the only kind of chakra out there right?"

"Sai there are only other two types of chakra out there and they are bijuu and nature chakra and Kyuubi would know both of them, but he has no clue what this guy is"

"Guys we need to do something I mean we don't even know what he wants maybe we should just talk to him he probably has a good reason why he has still not attacked us"

"I don't like the idea of talking with someone like this"

"I agree with Sai dobe we need to take him out"

"And how do you propose we do that teme we know nothing about this guy"

"Since when did you become rational?"

Naruto growled at Sasuke

"**Move now!"**

"Move now!" jumping into the trees they noticed a kunai buried in the ground where they were just standing two seconds before it exploded

Sasuke turned to Naruto "does that answer your question?"

"Naruto where is he?"

'_Kyu thanks for the save'_

"**Thank me by watching your six he is still in his original position to your right on the last branch there" **

Relaying the information to his brothers he asked "now what we don't have any kunai on us unless you want to throw your weapons at him"

"Great just great this is the second time someone has come gunning for our heads can't they just take a hint and leave"

"I have an idea Baa-chan definitely won't approve and it will put us in serious trouble but it just might help us or kill us"

"Why do I prefer to take my chances with throwing a stone at the guy than hearing your plan?"

"Because it is bad strategy 101 but we don't have a choice"

"Fine ttebayo let's hear it"

"We burn down the forest"

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other Baa-chan will have their heads for burning down her forest but it eliminated any hiding places and evened the playing field literally and the fact that they got to blow stuff up with a good reason was all they needed to hear

"Fire style: Grand Fireball Jutsu" said Sasuke

"Wind style: Great Breakthrough" said Naruto

"Combination Style: Hell's Breath" they said together

The flame was aptly named because in an instant the entire forest was on fire and the boys were safe at the edge but the whole forest in front of them was blazing until they heard

"Water style: Water Dragon Jutsu"

The dragon rose into the air and passed through the forest putting out the flames completely before dying out Sasuke saw an opportunity to do some damage so tracking the dragon with his sharingan he was able to locate their opponent's general location and then speeding through hand signs he said

"Fire style: Flower Phoenix Jutsu" the multiple fireballs only confirmed his position because they were blocked

"Water style: Water Encampment Wall"

The entire area was now blanketed in mist from the fire and water jutsus so they could not see anything on the ground but at least on the tree branch they would see an attack coming before it struck and that was what saved them

"Water style: Ice Bullets"

Thanks to the fire the only other place they could avoid the bullets was on the ground and that was where they landed Naruto immediately knew that staying in this mist was a bad idea so

"Wind style: Great Breakthrough"

Once the mist cleared the boys saw who their assailant is; an old dude wearing glasses in fact the only weird thing about him was the fact that his eyes were pure darkness

"What the hell?" asked Sasuke "we are being attacked by an old man, is this some kind of joke?"

Apparently he did not like Sasuke's smart mouth because he immediately went through hand signs "Water Style: Water Vortex"

A fucking vortex was speeding towards them thankfully Naruto drew Arashi and pumping chakra into it swung it from down-up slicing the vortex in two Sai then charged and disappeared into the ground immediately Sasuke sent another fireball at the old man which he countered by putting up the encampment wall again then Sai popped directly behind him and dragged him underground with his head sticking out

Popping back to join his brothers they took a breath "nice work Sai"

"Thanks Naruto" he then turned to face their opponent "who are you?"

"I am Hotaru a D class demon and my master wants Uzumaki Naruto give him to me and I will spare the two of you refuse and I will kill you" the freaky thing was that he maintained a calm face too calm for someone who was buried underground

"Well we don't do surrender" said Sasuke waiting to see what happens Hotaru then nodded and dissolved

"Damn it, he was a clone but then where is the original?"

"**He wasn't a clone look at the water"**

"Guys" they turned to Sai "I don't think he was a clone look"

The water was pouring out of the ground and they watched him reform back whole again with the same calm and composed face "Water style: Ice Bullets"

"Scatter" they jumped away and then surrounded Hotaru on the left, right, and back. Sai who was behind charged first but Hotaru did not move but he did not have to the hit simply phased through his liquid body Sai however had committed too much into the charge and so passed through him and received a boot to the back for his efforts

"Sai!" shouted Naruto who then dashed forward then jumped up with the intent of taking Hotaru's head off but the demon calmly spun and used the back of his leg to send Naruto flying Sasuke was watching the whole fight with his sharingan and was able to figure out that Hotaru only took solid form when he wanted to attack but reversed to his water form when he wanted to defend

Armed with this information he went to get Sai and return to Naruto's position and then relayed the info to them but before they could come up with a plan they heard

"Water style: Ice Spike Jutsu" they had to dodge fast or get skewered but then Naruto noticed something

'_Kyu has he moved from his position since he showed up?'_

"**No why?"**

'_Interesting'_

When the spikes stopped coming Naruto told Sai what he had discovered Sai then became wide-eyed like he solved their problems

"Of course I was wondering where he was getting all the water to do those techniques now I know he stays in that position because he has too"

"Meaning what exactly?" asked Sasuke

"Meaning that he is drawing water from the earth underground like a straw and because of the amount he is drawing all he has to do is direct it saving ton of chakra and if he uses the water it returns to the ground where he can use it all over again"

"So what do we do it is not like we can block his access to it"

"No but we can block him from accessing it, he was waiting for something when we got here despite knowing that he was going to fight us that means that if we manage to remove him from his position then…"

"Water style: Water Dragon Jutsu"

"Move" said Sasuke

'_Kyu, do you know of a way to get him out of there?'_

"**Sorry kit you are on your own with this one I got nothing"**

After the dragon had receded back the boys drew together the fact was they were getting tired if not for Kari's insane training they won't have been able to last this long against this guy his attacks came hard and fast and what was worse was that he could direct them any which way he chose

"Please tell me we have a plan" asked Sasuke who was getting frustrated at the thought of losing to an old man

"We need to remove him from his position somehow"

"Wait I got something"

"Well spill it dobe"

"Water style: Water Whip"

"You got to be kidding me" said Sasuke as the boys tried to dodge the long fat whip that was trying to take their heads off or slam them on the ground knowing that they had to work on the go Sai said

"Naruto what's the plan?"

"Sai on me, we attack him Sasuke just watch. Go"

Together Sai and Naruto waited for the whip to recede then they charged weapons drawn but no matter how times they struck they only hit water until Hotaru using his arms as a balance gave them both a spinning kick that sent them skidding backwards allowing Sasuke to pump his feet with chakra and strike with a knee to Hotaru's stomach but he did not so much as move an inch and before Sasuke could regroup he grabbed his leg and flung him at Sai sending both boys to the ground

He then turned to face Naruto and said "if you don't surrender now I will be forced to use the full range of my abilities to put you down and I will still eliminate your friends"

"Not a chance old man, bring it"

"Very well **you asked for it"**

"**Water style: Demonic Hurricane"**

A vicious hurricane rose up from the ground and charged at Naruto who managed to substitute himself with a log near Sai and Sasuke but the area where the hurricane struck was completely destroyed but the part that would always scare Naruto was the fact that Hotaru still had a calm and composed face like nothing big was going on

Sai gulped when he saw the level of destruction he couldn't believe that a normal person could do this much damage with a water jutsu and that for him was the scary part. Sasuke however was pissed off that they were getting their asses handed to them on a silver platter by a senior citizen they could barely get their heads together before they heard

"**Water style: Dragon's Wrath"**

A dragon almost four times the size of the previous ones rose high up in the air and hovered anonymously over them before it came crashing down as though on instinct Naruto sent almost half of his chakra capacity and screamed

"Wind style: Great Breakthrough"

The wild wind halted the dragon for a few seconds allowing Sai to grab his brothers and drag them deep underground but it did not matter they could feel the area shake like an earthquake just hit them after it had passed they popped back up for air and saw the destruction that the dragon had caused and they were scared

Kyuubi had a grudging respect for the human this was definitely not something to scoff at **"be careful kit this guy is dangerous"**

Naruto did not know whether to thank him for his care or yell at him for stating an obvious observation they needed a plan and they needed a plan now or they were all dead and the one forming in his mind at this moment was a very bad and dangerous one but if they were able to pull it off they might be able to survive long enough for someone to come up with a plan

'_Kyu can you please give me us your chakra?'_

"**Us, what do you mean us?"**

'_I mean me and my brothers'_

"**You do realize that my chakra is seriously poisonous to you not to talk of what will happen if I send it to your brothers they may not survive"**

'_I am willing to take that chance but I will ask them first before you give it to them but I want to know if you would do it'_

'**_Hmm this will be a nice test of the boys willpower and they are dead anyway might as well give them a fighting chance'_**

"**Alright kit I will"**

'_Thank you Kyu' _

"Guys I asked Kyu to give us some of his chakra ours is no match for this guy not with the kind of heat that he is packing"

"Do it" said Sasuke

Slowly the boys felt something enter their chakra coils and force them to expand the pain was biblical but they managed to push through and just in time because Hotaru had just finished another set of hand signs

"**Water Style: Bomb Blast"**

Sasuke decided to see just what the additions are made of "Fire Style: Flower Phoenix Jutsu" the fireballs cancelled out the incoming projectile

"Guys I don't know how long we have before our body gives out Sasuke use your sharingan to track the guy's movement and if you see a chance take his legs off this time use Yamato. Let's go Sai"

This time they were faster and stronger but their bodies were screaming so they knew that they did not have time on their hands Hotaru feinted the same spin kick that he did the last time around and Sasuke in his excitement charged at him but like before Hotaru quickly regained his standing position and grabbed Sasuke by the neck with the intent to snap it well Naruto and Sai were not having any of that

Sai struck with Force Edge pumping all the chakra he could into the strike taking Hotaru at the legs tripping him and forcing him to let go of Sasuke Naruto then pumped as much chakra as he could and

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough" the force sent Hotaru hurling into the air where the boys knew that time was running out when they started bleeding from their nostrils they then jumped into the air

Sai jabbed Force Edge into Hotaru's spine with everything he had sending him further into the air

Sasuke using Sai as a springboard used the Yamato to take Hotaru's legs off from the waist but they healed completely afterwards

Naruto then crowned it all by using both his brothers as springboards and appearing above Hotaru said "game over old man" and with a resounding force separated Hotaru's head from his body

Then they all landed on the ground about to pass out but Hotaru's head turned to ash and he stood up and grew a new one this pissed the boys off royally forcing them to go through hand signs calling on more of Kyuubi's chakra and in a moment of inspiration made a new combination

Sai "Earth Style: Granite Ball Jutsu

Sasuke "Fire Style: Flaming Vortex Jutsu

Naruto "Wind Style: Wind Dragon Jutsu

All together "Combination Style: Divine Comet Jutsu"

Hotaru and the entire landscape were annihilated from the attack and after seeing that their opponent was down they collapsed unconscious Kyuubi was impressed and glad that his nudge had worked the Divine Comet was his Jutsu and the boys' brains were not strong enough to stop him from temporarily taking over them and doing the technique but he knew that the boys were in need of some serious medical attention thankfully before he worsened their case by using his chakra to heal them their weapons came alive and did that

"**That was not bad boys not bad at all"**

ROOT Headquarters

"Hmm it seems our targets are more formidable than I thought"

"Danzo-sama I have returned from my mission"

"Ah Shin good to see you after so long you have perfect timing"

Shin knew that he should have run or at least taken a defensive stance but he did not and all he saw was darkness before he was no more

But as one life was destroyed another was restored

"It is time. We will leave this village and take our army with us but we will return alert everyone we will for River Country in 10 minutes"

"Hai thank you for reviving me"

"Go there is much work to be done Konoha will burn"

The next day

"Ugh my aching head" Naruto had just woken up from sleep and he did not know where he was at first the only thing that he knew was that his brain was on fire and he ached in places that he did not realize he could ache in, his arms were the worst they literally felt like someone was stabbing them with a kunai and his nose was itching him and he could not do anything about it because he ached all over

"**Here, is that better?"**

Kyuubi had somehow made the itching stop and Naruto felt better indeed

'_What happened to me Kyu?'_

"**Well I guess your tiny brain has a limit"**

'_Not funny Kyu I hurt all over ttebayo what happened to me?'_

"**The best way to describe it is that you have the worst luck I have ever seen in my life and look your brothers are awake too"**

'_What they were hurt too?'_

"**Oh you have no idea Kit"**

Opening his eyes Naruto saw white, way too much white and a strong smell that made his nose ache for fresh air all this told him where he was; the hospital and he was not happy with his discovery because while he couldn't remember what put him in the hospital in the first place he had not forgotten the last time he was in the hospital that day was just one big bowl of embarrassing and he would never want to repeat it ever again

Sasuke opened his eyes to quite a site; him, Naruto and Sai were in the hospital covered head to toe in bandages and somehow he couldn't feel anything in his body but the second he tried to sit up it was like someone had flipped on the pain switch in his body and suddenly every nerve and cell in his body felt like it had been burned and then sliced and then burned again it took all he had not to scream

Sai on the other hand could not stop himself from releasing a short painful shout that alerted his brothers that he was awake and he felt just the way they did and just like them he wanted to go back to being unconscious so that he won't have to feel like this all three boys however managed to open their eyes and look at each other just as a doctor waked in

"Ah you are all awake that's good so how are you all feeling? Are you aching anywhere?"

The questions earned him a death glare from all three boys who did not find his attitude funny at all Sasuke practically growled as he said

"Ask us that again and I will rip your tongue out fool"

Normally getting insulted by a five year old would have angered the doctor but the looks in their eyes let him know that they were not joking and he honestly did not know why they were upset he was just asking the standard questions but he decided to just ask something else instead

"Can you please tell me whether any part of you is numb or not?" a vase went straight for his head which he luckily dodged just before it connected instead it hit the door just as Kari walked in

"Sozen-sama could you please get your grandchildren under control"

Kari looked at the death glares that they were giving the doctor not to mention the fact that the vase between Naruto and Sasuke was now smashed against the door looking at the doctor she asked

"Just what did you say to them?"

"I just asked them if they were aching or feeling numb and they got angry with me" the poor guy had barely finished his sentence when the vase between Sasuke and Sai went sailing towards his head thankfully Kari dragged him out of the way and again the vase smashed against the door

"First of did you try and look at them before asking your questions?"

"Well no I was going to but they did not let me"

"That's your mistake right there because if you looked at them you would have noticed that they were twitching in pain and numb people can't feel pain so they are in pain and they are not numb"

"But why didn't they just say so or show indicators that they were feeling pain?"

Kari had to push the doctor out of the way as a pole went flying for his head again the traumatized doctor decided to hide behind Kari thinking that at least they won't throw anything at their grandmother, well he was royally wrong because before he could say a word two poles came sailing in and while Kari ducked the doctor did not and he got two poles to the chest because of his slow reflexes thankfully they did not pierce him at all

"Can't you get them under control?"

"Now why would I do that?"

"They are pushing their bodies and all this things are not supposed to be thrown at all they are put there for a reason and they are being childish"

Three clocks that had been placed by the boys individual beds made solid contact with the doctor's head knocking him out Kari did not even seem fazed she simply shrugged and faced her boys

"Well that wasn't very nice you three"

"He asked for it Baa-chan" said Naruto and Sasuke and Sai agreed

"Hmm well I guess you have a point there but still you three are going to pay for his medical treatment which means you're going to do some chores for the hospital from now on for knocking out one of their doctors"

"What but Baa-chan?"

"I don't want to hear it no grandchild of mine will become unruly while I am alive now get some rest and heal I will back later and if I see another unconscious staff you boys will regret it"

"Hai Baa-chan"

"Good now sleep and heal we will talk later" and with that she carried the unconscious doctor outside leaving the boys to themselves and surprisingly enough they actually fell asleep

Evening that same day

This time when the boys woke up they felt better it was at that point that they noticed that their weapons were right neck to them so at least that explained why they were all healed up but Naruto still could not remember what the hell put them in the hospital in the first place well until Sasuke said

"Damn old man"

'_Old man oh'_

"**Well looks like you finally remember"**

Sai said "remind me to never piss off any old people ever in my life"

Naruto was about to laugh at what Sai said when his brain registered what he did; he had killed for the first time almost as if to torment him his brain recalled with exact details exactly how the kill went, the stabbing, beheading and the total incineration that they caused. The images started to take a nightmarish form by replacing the old man with Kari and then Sai and Sasuke and the Sandaime

Naruto folded into a fetal position on the bed with his eyes wide and scared Sasuke was about to ask him what was wrong when all of a sudden Sai threw up and then assumed the same position he did not understand jack of what was happening right now but he was definitely concerned

"Guys what's wrong?"

"We murdered someone in cold blood and we liked it I loved the sound of his bones breaking under by Bo staff I am a killer"

"Sai is right Sasuke we are murderers and we don't deserve to live I enjoyed beheading someone Sasuke blood spraying everywhere and I loved it"

"Monsters we are monsters"

Kyuubi kept quite all through his chakra was first and foremost bloodthirsty and hate-filled before powerful so all the chakra that they had used yesterday had gone to their heads and it is what caused them to enjoy killing and crave even more of it and even though his chakra had left their system deep down they now knew that they had it in them to take a life and enjoy doing so and as hard as he was he knew that kits should not have to know that not until they grew up enough at least

Sasuke however was not as broken down as his brothers were, he knew that Hotaru needed to die or he would kill them I mean he said so right? So what was the problem? Well he saw what the problem was when he looked at his hands that were now gripping Yamato and he remembered but it was worse for him because the sharingan takes in every detail of anything it sees and the memories are now imbedded into his psyche

This was the scene that Kari walked in on; Naruto and Sai in fetal positions with their eyes wide and terrified and Sasuke looking at his hands as if wishing they were someone else's. She knew that this would happen the moment she got back to the village she headed straight for the compound to look for her boys while a medic Nin healed her. The destruction that she saw there made her both scared and jealous; her fight with Koharu had not caused this much damage at all

She found them passed out in the centre of the destruction and their opponent was nowhere to be found and since she knew that demons don't do retreat she knew that they had killed him and while she was happy that they were alive she was also worried about them as far as anyone knew someone had attacked the boys and her but they did not know who only the higher ups (village council) did and they were not happy especially at the fact that Danzo had bailed

Now Danzo was an S class missing Nin wanted dead by the village and while she would be worried about the fact that Danzo knew all about the village and could use this information to destroy them seven ways to Sunday and back right now her main focus was her boys who had still not taken note of her, too lost in their minds

So she pulled a chair making sure it made noise and sat down drawing the boys attention, the minute Naruto saw her sitting there alive and concerned he practically went flying into her arms and started sobbing heavily, knowing that his brothers needed this as well she sat on Naruto's bed and told them to come over, they slowly did so and when they climbed the bed she exuded warm chakra around her and not a minute later they fell into her arms sobbing as well

'_They act so mature all the time that sometimes I forget that they are still just kids and I still have not told Sai that we found the body of his big brother dead on the floor of Danzo's office dear Kami children should not have to deal with things like this they should be outside playing and the only worry on their minds should be how they were going to avoid eating their vegetables, not this.'_

Kari could not help but shed a tear for her boys innocence and curse Danzo and his goons for taking it away _'they were just getting better Sasuke had his family, Naruto had found a home where he belonged and could feel safe and poor Sai he was finally with a family that treated him like a person and a brother but the minute I tell him about Shin dear God he will lose it'_

After about twenty minutes the boys calmed down and Kari was about to comfort them when Sai asked the last question that she wanted to hear right now "Baa-chan does Shin-nii-san know what happened to me?"

'_Oh dear'_ she knew that she had two choices here she could either lie and say that Shin was on a long term mission and so he won't be back for a long time but if she did that then Sai would be waiting for his brother and when she told him that he was never coming back he will hate her for sure

"Sai I am so sorry my boy"

Sai at first was confused but the feeling in his heart slowly told him that something was very wrong "what is it Baa-chan? Is he okay?"

"Sai Shin is dead"

The boy nearly went into shock "no, no it is not true no, no, no please tell me that it is not true"

Kari's heart at this point was at breaking point because as much as she wished to say that it was not true it was "I wish it wasn't true but he is dead Sai I'm sorry"

"NOOO no, no, no Shin, SHIN" Sai was screaming and fighting to get out of Kari's hold so that he could go to his brother but she did not let him go Naruto and Sasuke felt for their brother Sasuke more so because if anything ever happened to Itachi he was sure he would lose his mind so they all held Sai as he mourned the death of his brother and the death of their innocence as well


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The next day

The family of four stood together with the Hokage and Kakashi and of course Sasuke's family plus Anko as they buried Shin. Sai was inconsolable he just held Kari as she carried him and he sobbed and sobbed Sasuke was in Itachi's arms crying as well, when the Uchihas had heard what almost happened to their son they were furious. Itachi nearly lost his mind with worry at the fact that his little brother was involved in a fight to the death with an Elder

Naruto was also being carried but by the Sandaime who while so proud of the boys for not only holding their own in such a high class fight they came out on top in the end but he also hated the fact that Shin had been killed another death on his conscience for not stopping Danzo the way he should have. Now Sai has lost his brother and the boys have lost their innocence but his biggest worry is that this tragedy will make the boys hate Shinobi lifestyle because they were damn good Shinobis that much is certain he just hoped that they will pull through

After the funeral was over Kakashi led the group to the memorial stone where he then engraved Shin's name there in front of Sai and when he was done he turned around and said "this is the memorial stone it holds the names of all the heroes who died in combat for their village. Shin was a hero and he will always be remembered as someone who loved his brother and his village and served both of them faithfully your brother is a hero Sai don't ever forget that"

Sai stopped crying long enough to look at Shin's name on the stone but it did not have the effect that Kakashi hoped it would, it only confirmed in solid rock that Shin was dead and he was never coming back "I don't want him to be a hero I wanted him to be my brother I want my brother I want my brother back why did he have to die why?"

Kari couldn't help the tears that fell down her face as she heard her little boy's pleas and saw the hurt and pain in his sweet dark eyes, _'this is a child Kami this is a child who does not deserve to know such pain he deserves to be happy they all do'_

"Baa-chan" Sai's tear-streaked eyes looked up at her and her heart broke "is he coming back? Please tell me that he is coming back please"

She did not know what to say to the boy she wished she could just snap her fingers and everything will be better again but she couldn't all she could do was be there for her boys "I wish he was Sai but I am afraid that he is not"

That did it Sai went into shock "Oh no Sai, Sai, Sai" they all panicked as they watched the poor boy shake violently luckily Kari snapped back long enough to stop his heart from giving out but as they rushed him to the hospital Sai slipped into a coma just as they got him into a room

Naruto was so sad that he could feel his heart breaking right now his family was falling apart and it was his fault if he had just surrendered maybe none of this would have happened maybe Shin would still be alive and Sai would not be so sad. Sasuke just held Itachi tighter and knowing his little brother Itachi held him tighter as well because he knew that it could have been him or Sasuke

Three days later

Naruto was not happy with the way things were Sai had still not woken up from his coma and he and Sasuke had been in the hospital for those three days waiting for their brother to wake up but so far Sai had not even moved a finger in three days, but that was not why Naruto was so unhappy. Sai was hurting because he had found out that his brother was dead so even if he woke up how was he supposed to be there for him when he had no idea what he was going through

Sasuke was a completely different story yes he was not happy that Sai was in a coma and would really like it if he woke up but his main thought was that Shin was working for the same people that tried to kidnap Naruto and kill them and from what he overhead they also tried to kill Kari as well so if Sai was Shin's younger brother what stopped him from going rogue on all of them or worse kill them for his brother's master

It was not like he did not trust Sai on some levels but this situation had him re-evaluating his friend and as much as he wanted to believe that Sai will wake up the same way they knew him he was not convinced and that made him feel like a bad person Sai had just lost his big brother so he should feel empathy for him but instead there was suspicion and it grew by the day

Both boys were drawn from their thoughts when the door opened and Kari walked in looking every bit as old as she was. Kari at this point had been busy helping the Hokage and the Sandaime re-work Konoha. After Danzo left he took quite a lot with him in terms of manpower and they suddenly found themselves on one leg and they needed to re-organize or else everything will fall apart

The boys had been very helpful in telling them everything that happened in their fight because with that they were able to figure out a blueprint of defence against Danzo and to be honest she was exhausted but thankful that she finally had time for her boys and from the way Sasuke and Naruto were each looking at Sai it seems that she came at the right time because the last thing that Sai needed was one of his brothers suspecting him and the other babying him

"Still nothing huh?"

"No he has barely moved a finger Baa-chan when is he going to wake up?"

"I wish I knew Naruto but all we can do is wait and hope he comes back to us soon"

"If he comes back" whispered Sasuke but Kari heard him

"Sasuke may I have a word with you?"

Now after staying at her house for so long he knew that that was not a request "Hai"

"Good follow me please we will be right back Naruto"

"Uh okay"

Outside Kari kept walking with Sasuke trailing behind her until she got to a balcony she then motioned for Sasuke to get in and after that she closed the door making Sasuke very nervous

"Do you know why I brought you here Sasuke?"

"No I don't Baa-chan"

"It is because I saw the look in your eyes when you looked at Sai and I want to know why you think Sai is a flight risk"

"What's a flight risk?"

"Someone with the potential of becoming a traitor but can also be an ally"

"Oh okay well it is just Sai's brother worked for the same guy that tried to kill us"

"Okay and?"

"Well Sai loves his brother that much is clear but there is so much about why those people wanted us dead that I don't get especially why of all of their men they killed Shin"

"What are you saying?"

"That these guys don't seem like the kind of people to do things just for the heck of it and they just killed one of their men reducing their numbers because of what to make a statement I think the attempt on our lives was enough to make us wary of them"

"Hmm you have a point"

Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief at first he thought that she would just tell him that he was being dramatic but since she was willing to listen he pushed forward "also Sai is close to the village Jinchuriki and the Uchiha clan head's son not to mention you consider him a grandson if Danzo wanted to hit Konoha were it really hurts all he had to do is convince Sai to join him"

"But he killed Sai's brother, why would Sai join his brother's killer against his family?"

"Shin was found dead in their lair nobody can say that Danzo killed him and if Danzo can make the village believe that he was a good guy all these years don't you think that he can convince a five year old reeling from the death of his brother that killing his loved ones is what's best for him?"

As much as Kari hated to admit it Sasuke was right, he was very right "dear Kami you're right with Sai's current emotional state anything is possible and we can't prove beyond reasonable doubt that Danzo killed Shin and if Danzo gets his hands on Sai fuck"

Kari placed her hands on the balcony fence and closing her eyes tried to figure a way out of this mess but for the life of her she couldn't do it. If they put people to watch Sai it will make him suspicious and with his current state of mind it will be like doing Danzo's job for him and if they did nothing and simply swept this whole issue under the rug then they just offered up a strong Shinobi to Danzo on a fucking silver platter, Kari groaned

Sasuke found himself in a difficult situation, on one hand he was very happy that his suggestions had not been taken lightly she actually listened to him however on the other hand part of him was hoping that she would laugh it off and tell him to stop overthinking things because if it was just a suspicion in his head that would have been fine but now that his Baa-chan had confirmed it, it felt like a strong possibility and the last thing he wanted was to have to fight his brother that would suck

Kari decided to just do with it turning to Sasuke she said "this is what we are going to do we will wait for Sai to wake up from his coma and then we will treat him the way we always have however if we notice any changes in him that indicate that he is becoming more of a flight risk we will handle it from there and for all our sakes I hope we are wrong in thinking Sai will go rogue"

"So we wait?"

"We wait and we love him just as we always have the last part is important Sasuke because flight risk or not Sai is going to need all of us right by his side and he feels that we don't love him as much well then he will look for love somewhere else and that is an opportunity that we absolutely cannot give to Danzo understood?"

"Hai Baa-chan thanks for hearing me out"

"Thanks for sharing you have quite the eye Sasuke you might make a great ANBU someday"

Sasuke grinned widely and he felt very happy that his Baa-chan thought he could make ANBU and Kari ruffled his hair and they both made their way back to Naruto who was surprised and interested in what was making Sasuke grin like that

"What is with your face teme there is something strange on it?"

"HaHaHa very funny dobe Baa-chan here just said I would make a great ANBU"

"Well duh Sai and I knew that what else is new?"

Sasuke was actually surprised that Naruto agreed with him it made him even more certain that this was his family and they loved him and it was then that he saw what his grandmother meant by loving Sai and he will make sure he did that however

"I am surprised dobe you actually used that brain of yours for thinking and it did not melt"

"Ha real funny teme Baa-chan can you teach me more wind techniques in our last fight I was only able to use one"

"Yeah I want more techniques too"

"Me too"

Shock ran through them as they turned to face Sai who was awake and smiling tiredly Naruto was the first one to snap out of it

"You're awake!"

Sasuke did not miss any opportunity to tease his brothers and said "wow thank you captain obvious and you took you long enough"

Sai and Naruto looked at each other smirked and said "Fuck you teme/Sasuke"

Sasuke placed he hand on his heart and with dramatic flair said "oh my Sai did you just cuss oh my brother is growing up, I think I'm going to cry"

Sai laughed alongside Naruto who said "you're a real dick you know that teme"

"Hmm sorry dobe did you say something?"

"Why you"

"Welcome home Sai"

"Thanks Baa-chan"

"Well you boys must be hungry why don't you catch up while I get something for you to eat okay?"

"Hai Baa-chan"

Naruto immediately became nervous "um so Sai are you um are you okay?"

Knowing what he meant Sai smiled "yeah I will always miss Shin but he would want me to be happy and not sad, Shin-nii-san was sick and the disease did not have a cure so I was always scared that he would die I am just glad that now even though he is gone I have a family here"

Sasuke was glad it seemed that he was wrong he placed his hand on Sai's shoulder and said "and we love you too"

"Aw thanks Sasuke"

"But how are you okay with it? I mean you have been in a coma for three days and Baa-chan said that a coma is like falling asleep so when did you think about it?"

"Well while I was in a coma Force Edge took me somewhere in my mind I guess and I was able to review my life and think about what I was going to do for myself now and I decided to bury my brother and move on"

"So you're okay now?" asked Sasuke if Sai was suddenly okay then that would mean one of two things either he has buried his feelings on the matter or he had placed them in perspective and was focusing on something else that was only temporary. People did not just get over their brother's death in three days it was impossible

"No I am still hurting but I am willing to be better"

"And you have our support every step of the way ttebayo"

"Yeah you do" _'I just hope we have yours'_

Meanwhile at the Hokage's office

Kakashi and the new Elders were talking about the state of the village and how the hell they were going to find Danzo Kakashi however had different thoughts on the issue

"Look I know that Danzo is a big time-bomb just waiting to explode on top of us but right now we have bigger problems than an old war hawk the sudden reduction in population in the village means that the village has less people to cater for but also lesser incomes, so basically we are broke and if we don't do something about it soon then we will go bankrupt and have to start bending our rules as regards to what missions we don't take or run the risk of losing the village. Not to mention the fact that I checked the books we owe the clans some serious cash"

Fugaku said "we gave that money to the village for it to survive and so I don't think any clan is gunning to have it back just yet"

"True but we have unwillingly placed restrictions on the people of the village and on the things that they can do not to mention that the prices of goods is going up and to be honest I will not blame anybody for raising the price of their stuff"

"Why don't we get the money from missions, we could increase our prices if that's what it will take"

"No that won't work Tsume-san our men are stretched thin as it is anymore and we risk them being overworked and that could result in their deaths and if we increase our prices we lose like half of our clients and we cannot afford to do that"

"We could start collecting bounties" said Fugaku but Tsume shot that idea down

"Almost 60% of the money goes to the killer and the rest to us and after all the people that you have to pay all we have in the end is will be less than 20%"

Kakashi groaned _'why am I even here by now this should be the Sandaime's problem not mine oh of course I am here because that damn old man was smart enough to get out the first chance he got ugh this job is just one big massive headache'_

"Are you okay Hokage-sama?"

"No Uchiha-san I am not this thing has been one giant pain in the ass since I took this job and now it is crunch time and we got nothing"

"Not to mention the fact that if anybody else gets wind of a dying Konoha we will be in serious trouble and the worst part of this is that we have loose allies at best" said Tsume

"Why don't look at the figures again and see what is taking the most cash from the village accounts" asked Fugaku

"That's easy the high priced civilians who keep importing expensive stuff; paintings, quilts, wood, hell those guys will import drinking water if they choose to"

"And why is the village paying for it?" asked an irate Tsume

Kakashi answered "because according to the law of Konoha civilians who are contributing income in other words working are given a 51% discount on all purchases from outside the village as it helps keep their business going"

Fugaku frowned when he heard that "who in the world made that law?"

"The First Hokage so in other words it is an old law that has become tradition and if we try to delete it by the time the process of deleting that law is done we would have gone bankrupt and I know what you're thinking Tsume-san but we can't just knock the civilians as we please the current Daimyo is pro-civilian in fact he sees Shinobi has big bullies and if we stand against them then we are toast"

"We are toast either way; if we don't act then we will go bankrupt and these same civilians will open their mouths and start blaming the Shinobi for spending too much money and if we don't give them what they want they will leave the village and go somewhere else. And if we do something then some fool is going to give us even bigger problems to deal with by denying us missions"

Kakashi out of nowhere had a funny thought that he shared with his advisors "you know if the Daimyo doesn't like us then whenever his wife loses her cat she won't call us to help her find it no more catch Tora or another animal that the Daimyo's wives keeps for pets"

They all shared a smirk because that was one mission that every Genin did at least twice it had become a rite of passage into Shinobi life and the embarrassing thing is that the animals were always outrunning the Shinobi until they got tired then they would simply sit and be carried back to their master for feeding and then run away again

"God I hated that mission" said Tsume

"You and me both" said Fugaku

Kakashi chuckled "well it was fun at times anyway back to business"

"Wait I thought that this topic was supposed to be discussed by the whole council and not just us"

"True but with the civilian reps gone the civilian council is supposed to get back to me on their replacements and honestly I do not want to have this conversation with civilians present they have a history of being stupid and if I hold a meeting on economics without the civilians present then I am asking for headaches"

"I still don't understand what possessed the First to make a civilian council in the first place or why he made that stupid law"

"He was loved, respected and feared by everyone in the village then so I guess this was his way of showing them that he was not as high as they thought, it was a nice gesture but that nice gesture has outlived its usefulness and it needs to go but how?"

"I think I have an idea but we are going to royally piss some people off if we go through with it" said Fugaku

"Okay what is it?"

"First I want to know what earns us the steadiest flow of cash"

"Well that would be missions"

"The items that the civilians buy we pay for 51% correct?"

"Yes"

"What does the laws on ownership state?" asked Fugaku with a smirk and immediately Tsume and Kakashi caught on

"The laws on ownership state that in the event of dispute the one who paid more than 50% of the item will claim it as his own and it is also an old law good work Fugaku"

"Thank you Hokage-sama but like I said if we collect all of these items and sell them what stops the civilians from buying them back and it will not doubt piss them off"

"Considering how many times they have pissed us off I don't really care"

"While Tsume does have a point we can't just cast them aside there are some civilians that are not total idiots and can actually be reasoned with and as for how we stop them from purchasing it back we can implement a temp law saying that any imports to the village must be paid for by the buyer in full as the village is trying to settle debts"

"That sounds good and I think I know of a way that we can start doing that but first we need to implement the new academy and release our Chunin from desk duty"

"Yes we keep having to postpone the implementation of that law I will do that today thankfully all the documents and files are all done that way all I have to do is give the go ahead but what is your idea Tsume-san?"

"Exports"

"I am afraid that I don't know what you are talking about"

"It is easy think about it Konoha is rich with natural resources and civilians with nothing to do"

"That is all well and good but like you said civilians with nothing better to do what makes you think that they are going to start actually working?" asked Kakashi

"Well they will start working when they realize that they have some competition"

Fugaku had inkling to where this was headed "you plan on using the Chunin as the labour force don't you?"

"The Chunin and any Shinobi who wants to help the village we can even give the hard working ones incentives to make them work harder"

"But again I ask how does this make the civilians interested in working?"

"Easy one Shinobi can do the job of four civilians and do it better because we will improve with each job and yes the civilians will see this as a good sign and just kick back, relax and enjoy being civilians well that is until they realize that a civilian is valuable to the council only when they are doing their jobs and if the Shinobi take over the economy then they cease to become important and we can do with them as we please"

"Wow that is actually very good I like the idea but forgive me for playing the devil's advocate here but what about the Shinobis D rank missions is not the kind of things that we want to do no matter how much we know it means for the village"

"That's why we will make it personal, it is just like when you train dogs when they do something good they get a bone and if it is really good then they get some meat and bones but if it is not good then they get nothing, you will be surprised by how determined a person can be when they have something to gain"

"I am very glad and lucky to have you both as my advisors this is brilliant so what kind of incentives are we talking here?"

"Hmm what is the one thing that Shinobis are gunning for these days?"

Kakashi and Fugaku thought about it and came to the same conclusion "promotions and recognition"

"Well there you go, we have our total debt calculated then after the sales that we are planning on making we calculate it again and see how much we have left and then we give the people a figure and the incentive is that the first person to reach that figure will earn a promotion to any office of his choice below council level and he will have an IOU ticket from the Hokage to be cashed in at will. And if we make the figure high enough and give incentives to the Shinobi as they work by the time they reach the said figure the business would have been firmly established and can be run on their own and since they will be using at the very least 60% of the village's resources then we will own it"

"And that would no doubt piss the civilians off forcing them to get to work or risk losing everything" said Fugaku "not bad"

"Thank you I thought so as well"

"Excellent work you two now I will draw up the paperwork right here and sign it so that you can get started right away we have wasted enough time as it is"

"Hai Hokage-sama"

"Hokage-sama one more thing though"

"Yes what is it Tsume?"

"We need to make sure that this new job does not make our Shinobi force lazy or reluctant to return to the field"

"Don't worry I got that one covered we will talk about it after this first steps have been taken"

"Very well then"

"God can't believe I am looking forward to doing paperwork"

Fugaku smirked "it seems to be the bane of every Hokage"

"Tell me something I don't know"

Meanwhile just outside the window a certain Shinobi smirked at this information and left to go and report it by sending a letter to his master he would want to know about this _'I guess Kakashi is good at what he does after all'_

Two days later

Outside Konoha 7pm

The unknown ninja was waiting for his master to get here and he was very excited this was the kind of break that they had been waiting for

"Kabuto"

'_Game time'_ "Good to see you Orochimaru-sama"

"Kabuto would you care to explain why you just risked both of our covers for me to come here please"

Kabuto gulped Orochimaru was notorious for smiling with you one minute and dissecting you the next so he knew he was going to have to talk fast and be as interesting as possible or he was next

"Konoha is in trouble and Kakashi is well on his way to solving them but it provides an opening I could not send it to you because of the sensitivity of the information"

"Very well Kabuto you have my attention, now tell me exactly what kind of trouble Konoha is in?"

"They are running the risk of going bankrupt my lord"

Orochimaru was shocked then he broke down laughing "you mean to tell me that Konoha that considers themselves so great is about to go bankrupt oh my God that is priceless tell me everything"

"Well it was not as bad until Danzo left the village and took his funds and men with him"

"This is the best news ever Kabuto with Danzo gone it gives me access to places that he used to use is there anything else?"

"Yes Orochimaru-sama they plan on selling all the items that the civilians bought that belong to the village for money and they are also going to use the Shinobi as the work to boost funds by exports"

"Finally a Hokage with a brain this was a very good report Kabuto but I have a feeling like you are holding back from telling me something"

"It is something that I am not quite sure I understand yet Orochimaru-sama"

"What is it Kabuto?"

"According to the reports Danzo sent Hotaru and Koharu to kidnap Sozen Kari and Uzumaki Naruto but while they failed the reports suggest that they were not human"

"What do you mean they were not human how is that possible?"

"I don't know Orochimaru-sama but according to the reports they had black eyes and demonic voices and the freaky part is that their regenerative abilities is unreal able to regrow lost limbs and head in a matter of seconds and keep fighting"

Orochimaru was definitely interested in this, if he could get his hands on something like that he would be invincible but how with Danzo being the last of the three Elders getting a sample would be near impossible and he was not naïve enough to think that Konoha would have the bodies if Danzo did not take them with him then he would stop being a criminal and be a monk

No getting a sample from Danzo would be impossible but perhaps he did not have to, there was a very slim chance that his snakes could find some of the Elders DNA at their different homes and at the ROOT headquarters and if he got just enough he can begin testing

'_Kukukuku yes this was worth it indeed by the time I have the correct sample I will get my sharingan and I will be invincible but first'_

"Kabuto how does a five year old fight and beat an Elder with some very tough skin"

"He was not alone Orochimaru-sama he had Itachi's little brother and one of Danzo's orphans"

Now Orochimaru was impressed and that was not an easy thing to do because if three kids can take out an Elder on their own then given a few years and some serious training they would make the perfect subordinates

"Kabuto Itachi's little brother what is his name?"

"Uchiha Sasuke my lord he lives with Kari, Naruto and Sai at the Sozen Estate"

"Perrrrrfect Kabuto have them tested I want to know everything about those boys I don't care how you do it just get back to me on all their skills and their weaknesses those three boys will be my ticket to the destruction of this little village"

"Hai Orochimaru-sama"

"Now go" after he left Orochimaru made some hand signs while biting his thumb

"Summoning Jutsu"

POOF

"You sssssssent for usssssss massssssssterr"

"Yes I did I want you to follow this directions to three locations and then I want you to collect DNA samples and any information that you can"

"Yessssss massssssssterr"

Three hours later the twenty snakes that were sent out returned and they looked more freaking than before they were bigger and their fangs had taken a curved and jagged and their KI had spiked slightly higher than normal now on normal circumstances if you see snakes with these features coming towards you it would make you cautious but instead Orochimaru was excited

"We have got the **ssssss**sample**ssss that you requesssssted"**

Orochimaru was positively giddy if exposure to the DNA could cause mutation like this then imagine what a concentrated dose of this would do especially if it was mixed with the cursed seal of heaven. The results had Orochimaru drooling from ecstasy

"Take the samples to my lab and store them and then I want you to dispel" after they were gone Orochimaru decided that it was time to implement his plan of ditching his current group of friends but before he leaves Akatsuki there was something that he needed to take care of so he left for the village and headed to his former Sensei's house

'_It was time to visit an old friend and see if he is still kicking after all a student should always make sure that he visits his Sensei every once in a while'_

At the Sarutobi Household

Hiruzen had just finished dinner and he had decided to take a walk in the woods with his pipe,

'_Now this is why I retired' _enjoying a nice night walk smoking his pipe was the best part of his retirement no meetings, no problems and certainly no one looking to him to lead now all he had to do was be an advisor to Kakashi who was doing a good job of being Hokage

But all of a sudden his veteran senses kicked in and he knew that someone was watching him closely and he was sharp enough to know exactly who it was somehow his wayward student had found his way into his village, well he was going to make sure that he regretted blowing his cover, Orochimaru was always over-confident in his abilities

Taking a smoke from his pipe he blew out and said "Hello Orochimaru"

Orochimaru stepped out from the shadows with a smirk on his face "Ah it seems that you still got it Sensei, having a nice retirement I presume?"

"Indeed I was in fact it just got better"

"Oh really now, why is that?"

"Simple with you here I can end you and rewrite the mistake I made by letting you live by killing you right here and now"

"Well it seems like you're ready well then it is a good thing that I have a contingency plan in place" he said that with such a smile on his face that Hiruzen felt the hairs on the back of his head stand on their end

"What have you done Orochimaru?"

"Who me now why would you think that I did anything?"

"Don't play games with me boy tell me what you did right this instant"

"You need to calm down before you have a heart attack" Orochimaru then acted like he was deep in thought for a second then he said "but come to think of it that would be quite the show tell you what could we press pause while I get some popcorn then when I return you can have a heart attack"

Sarutobi knew what his former student was doing; it was very snake-like of him. From the first day he met him he always noticed that Orochimaru was the kind to use psychological techniques to rattle his opponents just like a snake he loved to play with its prey, tormenting it with fear and then striking when it is least expected. This is the reason that for a while he was known as the strongest Sanin

But whether or not Jiraya could beat him now was not important he had to find out what the hell Orochimaru had done and he knew the snake long enough to know that there was no way to know if he was bluffing or not and right now he was not going to take any chances

"What do you want Orochimaru?"

"Well I was in the neighbourhood and I decided to check in on my favourite Sensei you know to see how you are doing"

"That is quite thoughtful of you I am fine thank you now, what can I do for?" the best way to beat a snake at his game was not to play that way it would get bored and just get to the point and that was what he wanted to happen

"Well I was hoping to have tea with you and have a talk it has been such a long time since we had a game of chess, don't you think?"

"Yes I believe it has been a long time since then unfortunately I don't have any tea and chess board with me, do you?"

"Why of course I have them in a scroll here why else would I come to find you?"

The Sandaime raised an eyebrow in surprise he was not expecting this at all what the hell was Orochimaru's game plan here

"Very well let's play shall we?"

"I did not get your favourite however I have come to love camomile tea, would you mind?"

"There is no problem camomile is good as well"

"Please sit" as they sat Hiruzen saw Orochimaru open his scroll and remove a tea set and a chess board and then after placing the board and arranging the pieces he proceeded to pour them a cup of tea handing him his own he made sure to check for poison via chakra and to his surprise the tea hell the pot was clean and so was the board

"Are you done with your inspection Sensei? You have gotten quite paranoid over the years and that is not very good for an aging man"

"Yes I suppose I should relax a little more, so shall we play?"

"But of course I seem to remember you beating me a lot whenever we played although I did far better than Jiraya though that's for sure" the freaky thing was that he had a genuine smile on his face as he said it.

Hiruzen was getting very freaked out here what the hell was going on, it was like Orochimaru had reverted back to how he was when he was still a Konoha Shinobi he really had to give the snake props he was very good

"So would you mind if I start Sensei?"

"Of course go ahead"

"Thank you"

The entire time Orochimaru was quiet and it was not a threatening quiet it was more like he was calm and at ease and to say that it was freaking the Sandaime out would be the understatement of the century he was a breath away from attacking Orochimaru just to be sure that this was actually Orochimaru because he had checked everything and he knew that he was neither dreaming nor was he under a genjutsu

Orochimaru on the other hand was having the time of his life, watching his Sensei lose his mind over what his game plan was, was the best entertainment he could ever hope for and the best part was he did not have anybody hostage so for this one time he was telling the truth about not doing anything and it was well worth it and if the Sandaime told anybody about this meeting then he would have to explain how he had him in person and he did not attack and after what happened last time it would not be good for the Third

"Well this has been fun good bye Sensei oh and I really did not do anything" and with that he poofed away leaving a very frustrated and angry Hokage in his wake

He appeared in Kabuto's apartment "nice place you got here"

"Orochimaru-sama is something wrong?"

"There has been a change in plans Kabuto now I want you to have those boys wrapped around your little finger I want to know everything that there is to know about them is that understood?"

"Hai"

"Good goodbye now"

'_Not bad for Wednesday'_

The next day

Sozen household 7am

The boys were outside waiting for Kari to come so that they can start their training after the last fight it had dawned on the boys that there were people out there who are far stronger than them and if they don't train and get stronger then one day they will meet an enemy that they would not be able to beat and that was a risk that the brothers were not ready to take at all

Sai was still reeling from the Shin's death but thanks to his new family he was on the road to recovery and Sasuke had also stopped suspecting his brother of being a flight risk and instead focused on making him feel better and loved and as for Naruto well he had become the heart and fun of the whole house always looking for ways to make everyone happy even at his own expense and in turn his 'older' brothers became protective of him

This is especially because of how the staff at the hospital treated their 'little' brother Kari at one point had to physically restrain Sasuke from lobbing of the head of a nurse who had sneered at Naruto and whispered the word monster to him although proof was never found of why that nurse was admitted to the hospital that night for severe genjutsu damage and no proof will be found if Kari had anything to say about it

"Oh man I can't wait to see what kind of jutsu she will teach us, that last fight I only had my Great Breakthrough technique"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto and said "what person in their right mind would give you more ways to blow up other stuff?"

"And what is that supposed to mean teme?"

"It means dobe that you are prone to destruction"

"I am not, name one time that I did anything destructive"

"How about the time that you set the living on fire because you wanted to see if you could use your wind technique to light up the fire place"

"Sasuke is right or have you forgotten the time that you flooded the bathroom because you thought using the Great Breakthrough to turn the tap head would be fun"

"And but these incidents happened last night and this morning respectively dobe"

"That does not prove anything that could have happened to anybody"

"You tried to cool dinner with a C rank technique because you were hungry my Bo staff still smells like soup from blocking the aftershock"

"And this was the day before face it dobe you are disaster central"

"Oh yeah well I am not the one who said we should burn down an entire forest just to smoke one guy"

"You boys did what!"

"Oh shit"

"Naruto you idiot"

The boys had agreed to not tell their Baa-chan that they had burned down the forest they knew that if they did then they would be in big trouble and now thanks to Naruto's big mouth Kari had found out

Sasuke glared at Naruto "Naruto what did we say about the incident?"

Naruto gulped "um never say anything to Baa-chan?"

Sai shouted "Naruto meet Baa-chan!"

"How the hell was I supposed to know that she was behind me ttebayo!"

"I swear if we live through this I will personally sew your mouth shut"

"So do you boys want to explain to me what it is exactly that happened during the fight"

Naruto took a deep breath "it is my fault Baa-chan I could not sense Hotaru's location and we could not see him and we were being attacked so we needed to do something and so I did the Great Breakthrough technique and destroyed the trees so that we could level the playing field"

Sai and Sasuke were surprised that Naruto was taking the whole blame for the incident I mean while it was it his fault that Kari found out it sure as hell was not his fault that the forest burned down

"Actually Baa-chan it was my idea to burn down the forest I thought that it would give us the view of our attacker that we needed and allow us to be able to plan our attack better"

"Yes and I helped him burn the forest it was a team effort and we will take the punishment of our actions together as a team"

"First of I want to say that I am very proud of you boys for taking responsibility for your actions and sticking together as a team and I love the fact that you boys are brave enough to try such a tactic and the fact that you followed your teammates advise without second guessing him it shows a level of trust that is rare among teammates"

'_Awesome ttebayo'_

"However"

'_Aw shit I spoke too soon'_

"Since you boys destroyed my forest you are going work to rebuild it and until it is finished no one will eat their favourite foods and you will be grounded for two months during which time I will be giving you boys pop quizzes and whoever does not answer every one of my questions correctly will clean the whole house for a day"

The boys were stunned beyond anything they literally could not think their jaws were hanging off their chins and their eye were wide open in shock Naruto could not help but explode

"What kind of sick twisted sadistic person are you?"

Kari narrowed her eyes at him "what did you say?" both Sai and Sasuke saw the potential threat right in front of them but Naruto did not

"You heard me you witch why don't you just kill us what the hell kind of sick punishment is that?"

And they were not going to stop him it was his big mouth that got them into this so if he wanted to rant and get himself into even more rouble then they were going to sit back and relax and watch the fireworks and judging from the sparks in Kari's eyes Naruto was going to be in so much trouble

"That forest that you boys burned down was all built by me and my father it was his last legacy aside from me we spent months in the sun toiling, learning and re-learning everything that we could just so that we could build that forest, it was special to me and you three burned it down. After the hell I went through and all the sacrifices that I made to see that forest built I swore that if anyone ever burnt it down I will kill them slowly and carefully and now that it is my grandkids that burned down my forest. So tell me Naruto what punishment do you think a sadistic witch like me should give you for burning down my most treasured possession?"

Naruto was suddenly ashamed of himself he had gone too far with that one and he was not the only one who was feeling bad Sai and Sasuke were both feeling bad because they destroyed something that was very precious to the woman who had taken them all in and was the only reason why they were even alive right now because if not for the hard training that she gave them there was no way that they would have been able to even have a chance of winning

Naruto felt horrible so he said "I am sorry Baa-chan I did not mean any of that I didn't know I'm sorry would you please forgive me?"

"We're sorry too Baa-chan we shouldn't have burned down the forest" said Sai

"Or kept it from you either" said Sasuke

Kari closed her eyes and taking a deep breath she said "look it is not like I would have been okay with you boys dying just because you're trying to not destroy property. We are Shinobi and in our line of work collateral damage comes with the territory because while I regrow the forest I can never get my beloved grandsons back if something bad happens to them. I love you three and yes I forgive you just next time try to keep your fights as safe to the environment as possible but if it is a life or death situation then all bets are off, understand?"

"Hai Baa-chan"

"So um Baa-chan"

"Yes Sai"

"Are we going to train or plant today?"

"Well I have decided since you boys apologized for your actions and stood together like a team I will teach you all a certain teleportation technique it is called the Body Flicker"

Sasuke became confused "what the hell is a Body Flicker?"

"I find it ironical that you don't know what the Body Flicker is when it is your cousin's signature move"

"I have a town full of cousins literally and I don't know what half of them look like"

"Well you do have a point there okay well the Body Flicker technique is a teleportation jutsu that is actually pretty easy to learn and when I say teleport I mean over reasonable distances, it allows you to teleport to places that you have been to before and only to places that you have been to before because if you can't remember what your destination looks like and you just wing it you would regret it believe me I know"

"Um Baa-chan"

Kari smiled at the hesitant tone Naruto was using apparently he thought she was still mad at him for yelling at her, granted she did not like it she knew for a fact that Kushina would have done the exact same thing so smiling she ruffled Naruto's hair

"Yes Naru-chan"

Naruto was first and foremost relieved that his Baa-chan was no longer pissed at him he did not know if he could take it if she hated him the fact that he was forgiven made him love this woman even more

"Naruto-kun you wanted to ask me something"

"Oh yeah um I can see how this is good for getting to point A from point B but we can already do that with the Kawarimi, is the Body Flicker any different?"

"You mean does it have a battle usage well the Body Flicker is not the best fighting strategy it takes too much time in a fight to initiate because you have to remember details of your destination before you jump that Sasuke is why your cousin is so good at it with the Sharingan's ability to accurately recall memories and see details it removes half the work of the jumper allowing him to concentrate on his chakra

The other drawback of the Body Flicker is that the chakra output is obvious so if you use it there is a very good chance that if your opponent track your chakra they can tell exactly where you are going to land and they will use that against you but once again thanks your cousin Shisui's sharingan he can see things in slow motion and be able to predict what his opponent is going to do and because he trains his body it can keep up with his eyes"

"I hear that my eyes see things way faster than I can move it is frustrating especially since we always end up in life or death fights, it is like I can see how to stop them or block them but I can't because my body is neither strong nor fast enough it sucks"

"That Sasuke is why I train you guys in physicals to make sure that your bodies can keep up with what your brain or eyes or senses are telling you and that is also why we do reflex training to make sure that if you can't think clearly enough to dodge with intent then your body will be able to go into autopilot and dodge for you"

"So everything that we do and train in has a purpose"

"That is correct Sai they all have a purpose and a lesson to teach if you pay close enough attention you will learn it"

"Ossu so how do we do the Body Flicker technique?"

"Well these are the hand signs"

Meanwhile Itachi was at home trying to enjoy a calming cup of tea after a long day yesterday, if there was one thing that he had learnt yesterday was that he should never have a complete half day training his speed and strength and then help Anko and Kurenai shop for clothes and groceries, dear Kami he had to have gone over all the stores in the village checking more things than he ever needed to know about hell at one point he was sure that they were deliberately just tormenting him because they kept asking him his opinion on different things

Halfway into their shopping spree he became aware that no answer was ever good enough it was either too bland or too dry and when he did not answer he was also a bad person and the best part was that the girls asked him to carry their stuff he spent his afternoon and evening shopping with girls who literally drove him insane at the end of the day he knew that he would have preferred to go on a SS rank mission than go shopping with those two ever again

'Dear God my head hurts' he did not sleep last night because he was too busy trying to analyse what the hell happened and why it happened I mean why couldn't they just go to one store and pick something out and why did they ask him of his opinion if they did not like what he said

Itachi groaned all this thinking was making his head ache like nothing he had ever felt before

This was the scene that Fugaku walked in on Itachi groaning as he massaged his head from what looked like a massive headache "would you like to talk about what is bothering you kiddo?"

"Dad yesterday I went shopping for clothes and groceries with Anko and Kurenai"

Fugaku instantly turned pale "oh fucking shit"

Itachi was surprised that his father knew how to cuss or would even do so in front of him that told him that what he did yesterday was a disaster that should have been avoided but why

"Dad what's wrong?"

"What's wrong is that you escorted two girls on a full on shopping spree that is something you should never do especially when one of them is your girlfriend I did that once with your mother and her best friend a woman named Kushina and the resulting headache was enough to put me in a hospital for a week"

"Why are girls like that dad?"

"That is something that I don't think any man can answer Itachi believe me I tried to figure it out too but all it did was make my head hurt why do you think that I never follow your mother shopping it is not because I do not love her it is because when it comes to shopping the worst thing that you can ever do is follow your girl out not unless you gear up like you're going for a SS rank mission"

"Two days ago I would have said that preparation like that is going overboard but after what I went through yesterday I find myself agreeing with you one hundred present but how in the world do I say no next time it is not like I can just lie to her she will know and then I will be in big trouble"

"Indeed so what I want you to do is to pay attention to me and when I mean me I mean my schedule so that if you do and Anko calls you to go with her you can use helping me out as your excuse and if you knew exactly what I was doing it would help"

"But is it a good idea to just come straight out and tell her that I really would not like to go shopping with her at all"

"Yes and sometimes you should go shopping with her but only on days when you are prepared for. This is what you should do if she tells you ahead of time go with her because then you would have had time to get your mind and body ready for the mission but if she springs a shopping spree on you then you either say no or tell her that you need to help your dad do something that way she can't get too mad at you"

"But there is a chance that she will get mad?"

"Itachi she is a girl they have a reputation of getting mad over just about anything why the hell do you think that the saying goes 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' and not 'Hell hath no fury like a man scorned'"

"Wait isn't that sexist?"

"Kiddo I love your mother and I have healthy respect for women everywhere but they really do have a way of getting pissed at the weirdest things"

"So what do I do about this headache?"

"I wish I knew kiddo my head ache lasted a week and it was not from a lack of painkillers"

Itachi groaned "great just great"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

_Three years later_

The boys stood in front of the forest that they had burned down over three years ago in a fight with a demon and they had levelled it back then and when their grandmother said that they were going to rebuild the entire forest as punishment they thought it would take decades for it to grow back but as it turns out the agricultural techniques had been greatly improved since when the forest was first here although it was still a pain in the ass to build

But the eight year olds felt a surge of pride and accomplishment flood through them as they watched their forest stand tall after being burned to the ground they finally understood their grandmother's pain when they burned down the forest the first time and looking at it now they knew that if anyone did anything to their forest right now they would be immensely pissed and that person will never be forgiven

"It's crazy it took less than an evening for us to destroy it but it took three years to grow it back" said Sai

"The crazy thing is not that the forest is here right now it would have grown back with or without us it is what we did to help the process that is crazy" said Sasuke

All the three boys shuddered in fear as they remembered the hell that Baa-chan had put them through this past three years, she focused on training them to their limit and 20 miles past it. First she put them through a rigorous physical by having them clear the entire forest area and clean it wearing 30kg on each limb at the same time she would quiz them and if they could not answer it correctly in less than 20 seconds then she would have them drop and do whatever insane exercise she could think of at least 300 times and God help them if they failed it the reps would be double

Needless to say they were highly motivated to study for the sake of their lives and when they had finally cleared the entire forest of logs and pieces of wood and weapons as well as all the stumps in the area levelling the forest area completely they thought that their work would be easy from now on Sai deduced that all they would have to do is plant some seeds, water them every once in a while and simply watch the trees grow of course they were incredibly wrong

Kari had them use their chakra manipulation techniques to stimulate the plants growth through a seal drawn on the forest area, note all the seal did was make their chakra harmless to the fragile plants and at the same time make sure that the plants added bits and pieces of their chakra to their makeup making them stronger and better. The job of getting tiny amounts of their chakra to the plants across a space of two acres

To say that it took everything out of their chakra reserve would be the understatement of the millennia it was hell, manipulating their chakra into fragile plants as they grew from about two feet underground it also taught them deep meditative techniques but heightened awareness because on predictable and unpredictable intervals Kari would haul weapons at them at first it was paint balls then it was stones then it was senbons and shuriken before it became kunai and then all of the above

How they were supposed to dodge or block them was their business all Kari told them was "don't get hurt" Sai was the one who came up with coating their bodies in a thin layer of chakra to at least soften the blow tasking their reserves even further Kyu later told them how to train their hearing and sixth sense so that they would know when the projectiles were coming and from where and then decide whether to dodge or pulse their chakra so that it gets deflected eventually that is what they did

But that did not mean that the physical training was over because then Kari had them wearing weights on each limb increasing it as they went on and they still did workouts and stretches as well as studies so much so that by the time the weekend comes around all they can think of is to sleep right through it or if they have enough energy go out and see their new friend Kabuto

So now because of their gruelling workout schedule they could not attend the academy with their mates thankfully too because if they did they knew without a doubt that they will be dead-lasts and that will not do at all but at the end of the day they knew that it was worth it for instance they had gotten to spar with Sarutobi just last weekend as a sort of test to see how far they have come and even though the fight lasted less than two hours and they had their butts royally handed to them Kari pointed to beads of sweat that were on the former Hokage's face showing that they gave as good as they got and maybe someday when they have some years of growth and experience under their belt they will be able to take the Professor out

Naruto thought about the last three years and while there were times when he did not wish to ever repeat he truly believed that at the end of the day it was well worth it but for a rare moment of silence he looked at the two people he had come to consider brothers and after remembering all the heartache and pains and near death experiences that they have been through he did not know what would have become of him if he did not have them supporting him every step of the way there was only one thing that was bugging him and that was Kabuto

_Flashback three years ago_

The trio were done with training for the week and they had decided to go into the village and explore it they had spent all week toiling in a forest area they needed to see some buildings otherwise they feared for their sanity their bodies were still aching even though it was Sunday and they had spent all day yesterday sleeping they still weren't fully healed yet

"Someday we will be thankful for the strain that she is putting us through someday" said Sai trying to cheer his brothers and himself up but the death glares he got for his comment let him know that it did not have the desired effect and Sasuke was vocal as to why

"Thankful you mean to tell me that you will thankful for the hell that she is putting us through this is child abuse!"

"Look we know that she at least cares about us maybe deep, deep down she is feeling like this is too much but she is trying to show us tough love"

"What the fuck are you talking about Sai this is torture not love what kind of love involves commanding three kids to clear an entire forest of stumps and debris or did you lose a couple of knots in your head"

"Naruto help me out here surely you at least realize that this is for our benefit in the long run"

"Sai I am a twitch away from punching you where the sun doesn't shine my entire body feels like it was used as punching bag for an angry Akimichi so no I do not see how this will help us get stronger"

"Am I the only one with half a brain here, think how in the world do you think diamonds are made or found?"

Sasuke and Naruto stopped leaking KI long enough to notice that Sai was getting emotional which was something that he did not do often when they were arguing so that meant that they needed to listen to what he was saying so taking a deep breath Sasuke said

"Okay Sai how are diamonds founds?"

"They take a lump of coal and then stick it under immense pressure and then wait as the coal starts to crack and the pressure will reveal the true nature of the coal; if it is just a lump of coal it will crumble to dust but if it is a diamond then the pressure will crack away the unwanted parts of the coal away revealing the diamond on the inside"

"So you mean to tell us that there is a pattern to Baa-chan's madness that she is placing pressure to see if we are simply a lump of coal or a diamond?" asked Sasuke

"Yes that is exactly what I am saying and I don't know about you guys but I refuse to be a lump of coal"

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other Naruto asked Sasuke "do you want to be referred to as a diamond?"

"If we are talking about the things that girls go gaga over fuck no but if we are talking about something indestructible then count me in"

Naruto groaned "congrats Sai you just gave Baa-chan's madness relevance but right now I am too tired to get excited or pumped"

"You mean you are ramen deprived dobe"

"Suck on it Sasuke I need my ramen and I am not in the mood for your sass so do me a favour and choke on it"

"So feisty for a five year old boy"

The trio spun around to see a kid a few years older than them with a silver ponytail and a pair of glasses and from the look of things he was in the academy

Naruto from years of being hated by the villagers was immediately on edge strangers don't just come up to him butting into his conversation just for the heck of it they always had an agenda the question was what was his

"And you are?" Sai asked

Pulling his glasses up with a smile that seemed genuine to Sai and Sasuke but sent a shiver down Naruto's spine he replied "my name is Kabuto and I could not help but overhear your predicament"

'_Yeah you just happen to be listening in on three five year olds on your way yeah that is perfectly reasonable'_ thought Naruto

Kabuto noticed the way Naruto was looking at him and he knew that if he was going to gain the trust of all three boys then he was going to have to convince Naruto that he was a nice guy so that way they will all come to trust him with their secrets and that is what he wanted so with that thought in mind Kabuto looked right at him and said in his most sincere tone

"And you must be Uzumaki Naruto it is a pleasure to meet you I must let you know that I have no ill-will towards you whatsoever"

"**Kit I don't think I have to tell you that this guy is fishy"**

_´Definitely not he just gambled and lost if he knows who I am then he also knows what people think of me and instead of being honest he is playing kiss-ass time to set him straight' _

"**Maybe not"**

'_Huh what do you mean?'_

"**I mean that if he is going through the trouble of gaining your trust then it is quite obvious that he has an agenda in mind and judging from his age I have a feeling that he is working for someone and after all the attempts on your life it might be best to let him gain your trust and keep an eye on him and if he asks for any information give half-truths or white lies that way when he eventually slips up he will have nothing on you"**

'_Wow that is actually a pretty good plan but what if he finds out?'_

"**Well then you are lucky that you have a master fox inside of you just follow my lead and we will be just fine"**

'_Cool'_

"Oi dobe are you there?"

"Uh oh yeah sorry I was thinking about something"

The boys knew what that meant but they needed to cover up for him so that Kabuto does not get suspicious

"You were day-dreaming about ramen again weren't you?" said Sasuke

"He tends to zone out when thinking about ramen" Sai said to Kabuto who seemed to buy it

'_Thanks guys'_ Naruto then following Kyuubi's lead said "pleasure to meet you too" with a big smile on his face after which he proceeded to act like an idiot until Kabuto left Sai and Sasuke did not bother asking why he was behaving like a moron because that was his default personality

_Flashback end_

The next day

Naruto was nervous but he did not want anyone to know what was going on. Unfortunately for the blond while he could fool his brothers his veteran grandmother was a different case entirely. This morning Kari told the boys that they were going shopping for some new clothes for their first day of school tomorrow so naturally the boys had made designs of the clothes that they wanted and Kari was taking them to the mall where they could get the clothes of their choice because while a Shinobi should dress in a certain way they were eight year olds so she was okay with their preferences no matter how silly (Naruto) they were.

But back to the matter the closer Naruto got to the mall the more nervous he got. Apparently part of him still felt unwanted among the general populace and while she wished with all her heart that she could snap her fingers and make the people of Konoha see him as the hero he is she couldn't. When they got to the entrance and the guard at the door frowned at him Naruto physically flinched and Kari eyes narrowed dangerously at the guard daring him to stop them. Thankfully he did not stop them but the attention that he got when they entered made Naruto's discomfort clear to his brothers.

"Oi dobe what's up with you?"

"Nothing Sasuke thank you for asking"

Now the boys knew something was seriously wrong Naruto did not do polite on his best day however this time they looked around them and that was when they saw the stares that they were attracting especially Naruto. It took them a few seconds to piece everything else together and to say they were pissed would be a grave understatement.

"Naruto look at us" said Sai

When he did he saw that his brothers were straight-faced Sasuke then said "we don't care what they think we came here to shop for awesome clothes and if they have a problem with that then they can **suck it!"**

"He's right now why don't we go shopping ne?"

The cream on top was when he felt Kari's gentle hand on his head as she said "we love you just the way you are and nothing will ever change that okay?"

"Yeah come on dobe we got things to do"

Naruto did not know whether to cry or laugh in the end he extended a grateful smile to his family "thanks guys"

And with that they set off unaware of the chain reaction that their reaction had caused.

Ino had decided to go out to buy some clothes as a surprise for her new friend Sakura

'_That girl was as shy as a mouse oh well nothing a few beautiful dresses can't fix'_

But as she was talking to a sales attendant everywhere went dead quiet the girl looked around confused until Ino noticed the newcomers and the fact that everyone was staring at them like they had committed one large offense, naturally she asked the sales attendant what was going on to no avail finally she decided to listen to what some people were saying and while she could not get much she heard a couple of words specifically "damn protected demon"

First of why would anyone protect a demon? And why did she feel as though she had heard something like that before but before she could think more on it her eyes caught a dress that she absolutely must have pushing the incident to the back of her mind for now.

Meanwhile…

A certain team was returning from a long term mission and boy were they relieved to be home for different reasons of course. Itachi was thinking of checking on his little brother, Anko was drooling from all the dango that was waiting for her while Kurenai was thinking of a hot bath and a good book.

"Team Kurenai reporting"

"I still don't get why we are called Team Kurenai?"

"How many times do I have to say this Ko-chan I am the oldest in the team which automatically makes me leader"

"That's not true we're the same age damn it"

"Sorry little one but I senior you"

"On a technicality"

"Which makes all the difference don't you think so Itachi?"

Now after spending three years with them he knew he needed to stay as far away from this argument as possible thankfully he had gotten pretty good at making clean getaways "while I would love to stay I need to get home and check on Tou-chan there are some duties that I need to get briefed on"

"Eh what duties are you talking about?"

"I don't really know dad wasn't specific I see you guys later" quickly kissing Anko he teleported away

"Itachi you're home"

"Hai Kaa-chan, how are you?"

"I have been better"

Taking notice of his mother's tone he turned from his journey to his room to bath to the kitchen where he found his mother nursing a cup of tea that had long since turned cold with a strained expression on her face an expression that was definitely not there when he left two months ago.

"Kaa-chan what's wrong? You look like a mess"

And boy did she know that but she was not about to miss an opportunity to tease her eldest "so your own mother looks like a mess is that right young man?"

Itachi visibly flinched "I-I-I didn't mean it like that Kaa-chan I swear I just uh I just noticed that you looked um stressed that's all"

Mikoto couldn't help the warm smile that spread across her face, socially awkward he may be but he always brought a smile to her face. The smile made Itachi relax enough to realize that he was being teased

"Seriously mom I don't know who is worse you or Anko"

Mikoto laughed at that if there was one thing that she and Anko shared it was a love for deliberately pushing Itachi's buttons, they honestly couldn't help it he was so much fun to tease, "Gomen Sochi"

"It's okay so what happened?"

Mikoto took a deep breath and the tiredness in her beautiful face returned in full force but she couldn't tell him what was going on, prodigy or not Itachi was still her 13 year old boy and she was going to keep it that way so she got up and kissed him on his forehead and smiled at her strong son

"Maybe some other time Sochi you look tired, why don't you go get some rest okay?"

Itachi knew when he had lost a fight so he did not bother arguing but he promised he would find out what the problem was he did not like the look in his mother's eyes at all it reminded him of war times and that was one time he prayed would never happen again if nothing else but for Sasuke's sake.

"Only if you let me rest by letting me make you a warm cup of tea and at least keep you company"

"Itachi"

"Please mom"

He said it so gently now how in the world could she say no to that?

"Thank you Sochi I would like that"

Getting up he quickly had his bath and made tea for them then they just sat in comfortable silence each deep in thought and Itachi was wishing he was a mind reader or a seer just so he could help his mom. He could still remember two years ago when Shisui was found with his eyes gouged out dead by patrols he felt his heart shatter. Shisui had been the only cousin that he truly cared for and to find him like that ripped his world apart if not because of Anko and his family he was not sure he would have been able to fully recover. While the memory of his dead older brother hurt he always tried to remember him as the loving, carefree and strong-willed friend that he was not as a corpse.

'_I owe everything to this woman and now she's in pain and there is nothing that I can do about it. Kami please I wish she would let me in and trust me to help I am not a child anymore'_

Trying not to get angry with his mother Itachi decided to let her know how his mission went or what he had planned for the week, anything to at least get both of their minds off it so that maybe if she sees how responsible he is she would trust him enough to let him know what is going on.

Meanwhile…

Kakashi was pissed no scratch that he was downright livid and the object of his rage was right in front of him mocking him the glare that he was giving his nemesis and the KI that he was leaking was starting to scare his ANBU guards a little and this was the scene that the Third walked in on.

"Yep I know that look very well but I am sure that I don't have to tell you that whatever you are planning won't end well at all"

Kakashi's eyes suddenly lit up like a freaking Christmas tree unfortunately before he could open his mouth the Sandaime beat him to the punch "No I won't take your place or offer any help whatsoever"

The smile in his eyes quickly became a cold hard glare "Sorry Kakashi that won't work either"

Kakashi groaned the bane of his existence was pissing him off royally. Now while the Sandaime knew that Kakashi hated paperwork perhaps even more than he did because of the prodigy's lazy attitude this was pushing it.

"So what exactly is going on?"

"Jiraya's new make-out series is out fresh in stores now and while I got a copy of it this morning I can't read it because of this damn paperwork!"

"Hmm oh yes I remember it was quite the interesting read I can promise you that"

Kakashi was shocked "wait you have read it?"

"Why of course, I finished it a few minutes ago I have to say Jiraya has gotten quite creative hehehehe"

Now Kakashi had a new nemesis in the form of an old man who received the full brunt of his KI and cold glares unfortunately the Sandaime had seen worse (Kari, Kushina, Tsunade and Minato) so he just pulled out his pipe and started smoking infuriating Kakashi further

This was the scene that a nervous Fugaku walked in on _'why do I always meet these two in positions that make no sense. Why in the world is Hokage-sama glaring at the Sandaime like he committed treason or something'_

Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it he was used to these two and their antics by now so he simply shook it off and coughed drawing both men's attention "Hokage-sama Sandaime-sama, may I speak with you two for a minute?"

Shaking off his rage for his predecessor Kakashi said "of course Uchiha-sama please have a seat, now what is the problem?"

"It is a rather sensitive matter"

The ANBU vanished without a word even they knew when something came up that was above their pay-grade Kakashi also activated the silencing seal in the office.

"Okay what is going on?"

Fugaku sighed deeply drawing both men's full attention as the Uchiha was known for his level-headedness but now he looked drained

"Fugaku" using his name was Kakashi's way of assuring the man that he was amongst friends "trust us please so how can we help?"

While Fugaku was still unsure of what he was doing he also realized that it was essential if he wanted to protect that which was precious to him "I am here to inform you both on the trouble brewing in my clan but if you don't mind I would like it if Tsume came as well this is a sensitive meeting and I don't want to repeat it"

A knock on the door drew their attention while the Sandaime said "I already called her hope you don't mind"

"No not all thank you"

"Come in"

"Hokage-sama Sandaime-sama Uchiha-sama good day"

"Hai good day Tsume-san please have a seat Fugaku has some information for us"

Now while she was brash, headstrong and short-tempered she knew when to keep quiet and listen.

Fugaku started "please I would appreciate it if you all listen to the end before you ask your questions or make your decisions. Thank you. Now you all know that three years ago my clan was under a lot of pressure and the Elders had been pushing for more radical methods of dealing with the situation and most of the clan aside from my wife and I and a select few people were in support of this however their opinion changed somewhat when we started to clean up the village's economy and put the Uchiha clan police force at the forefront of collecting the items from the civilians and selling them as well as when the debts that we were owed was paid. Also the apology that you sent to the clan and the support that you showed by showing equality to ALL clans was what most of members needed to believe that our place in the clan was secured.

But not everyone was moved the Elders and those loyal to them were still bitter about what happened and God knows what else but they kept quiet knowing that saying anything at that point would have painted them as paranoid old men who couldn't control their emotions so they waited, now when Shisui died and they did not openly say a word about it I thought, hoped, that they had changed. That somehow my clan was healing and that we were on our way to being a clan that I could be proud of, a clan that my little cousin Obito would have been proud of but I was so wrong.

I had a meeting with the Elders last night, it was a routine meeting I was not expecting much but then during the meeting they kept dropping hints and suggestions that they immediately ignored making. At first I thought that they were simply messing with me that definitely was something that they would do but the hints started to turn darker by the minute it got to the point where I started to piece everything that they were saying using what I knew of our history and laws and by the end of the meeting my blood ran cold I turned to them to confirm that I was simply going crazy but the look in their eyes said it all."

Taking a deep breath he said "The Elders planned Shisui's death and they took one of his eyes and sent the other one to a mysterious benefactor then they used that as a means to gather up a small group of faithful followers with two objectives. The first one was to build their support group by killing all the children in the clan from 10 years down and blaming it on the village and if I supported you then they will use the parent's grief to paint me as loving the village more than my clan. The grief-filled parents will then exact their 'revenge' on the village by first killing all those who opposed them and then they would stage a coup d'état and take control of the village. While all this is going on the Elders will kill the two Hokages and that will be the end of Konohagakure no Sato"

"I don't know what to do anymore the people that support the Elders hold every position in the clan and in the police force except for clan head. I don't want a civil war but I am lost" finished Fugaku and for a few minutes the whole room was silent. The men knew that the only way out of this was to kill the troublesome people in the clan through some freak accident or something but they may end up doing the Elders job for them especially if they shot and missed but what choice did they have?

Just before the Sandaime stated the only obvious solution Tsume spoke up

"I know that you all think that there is only one solution to this problem but perhaps I have a better idea than conducting a massacre in our village just eight years after the Kyuubi attack. Killing off a clan like the Uchiha will lead to problems down the road especially among the younger generations this is an idea of what will be going through their heads; first this village treats us like trash now members of our clan are dropping like flies what is going on? And **when** they find out what really happened we will be in this same position all over again. Trust me when I say that it doesn't matter how you sell it mass murder will always be mass murder"

"So what is your suggestion Tsume-san?" asked an interested Kakashi because he honestly had nothing

"The thing that caused this problem in the first place was because the clan was not getting the attention that they feel they deserve correct?"

"Correct but if we give them any more attention we can no longer say that we are treat our clans with equality" stated Kakashi who still couldn't see where she was going with this

Tsume smirked, it felt good to be the centre of attention every once in a while, "exactly"

Now the three males were very confused however the devious smirk on her face gave Fugaku hope that his clan was not doomed to be killed so he asked "could you please explain Tsume-san because we don't understand"

One thing was clear though she was enjoying being the one with all the answers a fact that amused Sarutobi, aggravated Fugaku who wanted her to get to the point and interested Kakashi who had a new found respect for his advisor.

"I will be very honest your clan is full of assholes and flight risks just begging to take off but they are loyal to those that they chose to be loyal to. That is the point Fugaku gather your clan together, you are their Alpha so act like it, let them know exactly what is going on, what their options are and answer any questions that they may have"

"A pep talk?" asked a bemused Kakashi who was expecting more hell Fugaku was disappointed which made Tsume growl at them

"Tell your clan the facts of their stay here in the village, let them know the pros and cons of leaving the village and the pros and cons of staying but also let them know that if they chose to go then they owe Konoha nothing and if they chose to stay then it will be on your terms not the Hokage's yours. Let them know that treason will not be supported at all and whoever is involved in traitorous activities will be punished according to the laws of the clan and village. Of course they will have questions and comments it will be your duty to answer them and when you are talking to them don't do it as a clan head or an advisor do it as a father, husband, Alpha and Uchiha then let them chose."

As they thought about it they started to see the sense in what Tsume had said but would it work was the question

"I have to say Tsume-san when Kakashi elected you as his advisor I was skeptical but now I can see you are definitely one of a kind. I am impressed"

"You really believe this would work I mean we are talking about the most unstable dickheaded clan in history no offense Fugaku"

'_How was I not to be offended by that?'_

"I guess it all depends on how much of an Alpha Fugaku is everything is riding on it"

Shaking his head he knew that if nothing else then Tsume had given him a lot to think about and while he refused to think of his clan as unstable he knew that both Kakashi and Tsume were right everything rested on him as if reading his mind the Sandaime said "Everything rises and falls on leadership Fugaku but know this everyone in this room has your back no matter what way this plays out"

While that did not solve his problems it certainly helped loosen the weight on his shoulders "Thank you everyone"

The meeting ended after that with Fugaku going home to talk with Mikoto and Tsume going to attend to her son Kiba who was getting his very own pup today before school starts tomorrow leaving the two Hokages alone in the office.

"Well that was unexpected"

"Which one; the fact that Fugaku brought his clan's problems to us, the level that it has gotten or the solution the Tsume offered"

Taking a draw of his pipe Hiruzen replied "all of that and the fact that you don't realize what this means for your desk or book" after which he also left

Confused Kakashi thought about the meeting they just had while picking up a piece of paper to sign when his brain caught up with a fact that he had completely disregarded whichever way this plan went the paperwork would be hell and to add that to his current one and the book in his pocket Kakashi screamed

"DAMN YOU SANDAIME!"

Said Hokage simply laughed "ah yes retirement is good"

Back with Naruto

The mall was a bust not just because they did not have the clothes that the kids were looking for but also because of the service that they were getting. The Konoha Mall was the centre of the market district and the largest it was also the only place where everything that you would ever need as a civilian or Shinobi and it was run and managed by the civilian council it was literally the only civilian run business in Konoha after the incident that happened a couple years ago. Kari had to say that the plan was fucking genius plain and simple but since the mall did not have what they wanted the boys were feeling downcast luckily Kari had the solution.

"You know it's not as big as the Mall but I do know a place that is run by a retired Shinobi who also happens to be a friend of mine, now while his main focus is weapons his wife has quite the talent in making clothes. Unfortunately they are not as popular as the Mall or as sort after it is quite the pity"

Her unhanded ploy worked beautifully well so well that the boys were begging her to take them to this shop and Naruto practically swore to personally advertise the shop just so their shop would be just as popular as the Mall or maybe even more.

'_Too easy'_

'**_That woman is one dangerous vixen to use your own grandkids like that and my host is a gullible moron'_**

Ten minutes later the boys were standing in front of the Red Kunai.

"Uh Baa-chan what kind of name is the Red Kunai ttebayo?"

"Yeah if they want to attract customers shouldn't they use something more I don't know attractive?"

"Maybe it is a sentimental name research has shown that 70% of single business owners name their businesses after something that means something to them"

"What kind of sentiment makes someone name their shop the Red Kunai?"

"Why don't we go in and you can ask them yourselves I doubt either of you are mind readers after all"

"Kari-san it's been a long-time please come in, what can I get you today?"

"Hello Hashi it has been a while I must apologise for that I have been quite busy"

"Of course I understand it is good to see you how are Sokka and Suki?"

"Troublesome as always I'm afraid"

While the adults caught up the boys took in the man's appearance he was plain period. Average height, average skin tone, brown hair, brown eyes, white teeth and he was wearing a loose brown top and dark blue pants and sandals and that was it. Needless to say, the boys were not impressed how in the world did this guy know their grandmother enough for her to recommend his shop to them hell Naruto was beginning to doubt he will be able advertise their shop I mean how did he hope to sell that idea

'_Hi my name is Naruto I recommend you go to Red Kunai it is shop run by a guy named Hashi an average looking guy. Yeah that's not going happen'_

Knowing what her boys were thinking she knew that Hashi did not need any advertisement once you tried his works you would not need any convincing that he was truly one of a kind besides deception was the Shinobi's most powerful asset and Hashi was a master.

"Oh where are my manners Hashi I would like you to introduce you to my grandsons Naruto, Sasuke and Sai"

"Oh I see it is very good to meet you boys I surely hope that you are not giving your grandmother too much grief"

"No sir" said Sai while Naruto and Sasuke looked to see if he noticed exactly who they were

"So you really did manage to adopt Fugaku's second son, the Kyuubi Jinchuriki and an orphan formerly under Danzo. I have to say Kari-san that is damn impressive you boys are truly lucky you know that?"

"H-Hai" _'How the hell did he know that?'_

Kari chuckled at the looks on their faces "remember boys when it comes to our line of work or training; always look underneath the underneath got it?"

"Hai Baa-chan" They were definitely not going to judge a person by their look anymore that was for damn sure.

"So to the reason why we are here my boys want some new threads for when they start at the academy tomorrow think they could look around for a while"

"Sure go right ahead boys" and with that they took off and boy were they amazed by the weapons that they saw it was seriously intimidating and by the time they got to the clothing area they had already decided where they were going to get their Shinobi supplies from now on

"They are going to be something to watch out for in the future"

"Hai they are indeed so how is that little tomboy of yours"

"Ha very funny Kari-san very funny indeed Ten-ten is fine looking forward to graduating and meeting her Sensei"

"You were too at that age"

"Except my team lost our Sensei our first mission out of the village it was pure luck that the Sandaime trained us else who knows what would have happened to us"

"Well your team had a too much potential to simply go to waste"

"And now look at us; Aya left, I retired and only God knows where the hell Kiseki is"

"Still you and team were pretty amazing back then ne?"

"Hai I guess we had our moments but that's past us now I guess it is up to the next generation now"

"Hashi you are too young to be saying things like that"

"Perhaps"

"You are there is still hope yet don't worry"

Hashi smiled "you always look for the bright side thank you Kari-san"

"You're welcome now I do believe that I have given my boys ample time to shop what do you say that we go and look at their choices?"

"It should be interesting to say the least I wish Hoshi was here"

"Where is that wife of yours anyway?"

Hashi simply shook his head "she heard of a new fashion trend being launched in the Capitol a few days ago and she took off I swear sometimes she can be so impulsive"

Kari laughed Hoshi was definitely a character and a perfect fit for Hashi not to mention that their names were almost identical "when will she be back?"

"Heaven knows but all things being equal she should be back today or tomorrow"

"Don't worry I am sure she will be back soon and then she will spend the next few days regaling you with all the details and forcing you to accompany her while she shops and tries to improve on what she saw"

Hashi groaned "please don't remind that woman is troublesome to say the least"

"But you wouldn't have her any other way"

"Tch aren't we supposed to be checking on the boys?"

"Dodge it all you want but you and I both know that you love her just the way she is"

Knowing that she would hog him until he admitted it he conceded "Hai, Hai can we go now please?"

Laughing Kari led the way to the clothing section when she called out for them they replied that they had found what they wanted and that they were in the dressing room

"Well come out already so we can see you"

"Hai, Hai hold your horses, ttebayo"

Meanwhile inside the dressing room the boys had finished dressing and they were planning how they would come out either all together or one at a time Kari finally had enough and said that they should come out already

"Okay we will all go out in 3, 2, 1 go"

When they came out Kari got a good look at their choices, the first thing that she noticed was that they were really creative and unique but at the same time very similar. First off they were all dressed in black combat boots, black fitted pants that they somehow tucked into their boots because she could not tell where the boots ended and their pants started and finally a black fitted top with black fingerless gloves.

That was where the similarities ended starting with Sasuke he had a high collar silver jacket that streaks of lightning on it, the jacket was unzipped from his chest up. Sai had on a green scarf around his neck covering his chin and one end resting on his lower back while the other dangled around his chest. Naruto was perhaps the weirdest one, first thing was that he had on a pair of orange goggles that rested on his forehead with a sleeveless dark orange hoodie with specks of red on it.

Looking at them Kari was definitely impressed with what she saw but that was nothing compared with the question that Sai asked her

"Baa-chan we know that we are your grandchildren but we wanted to ask if we could wear the Sozen clan symbol on our backs?"

The question was clear if they wore her clan symbol then they were publicly declaring their loyalty to the Sozen clan and renouncing their devotion to their own clans or their rights to start a clan of their own "boys while I'm flattered I don't think that you know exactly what you're asking for here"

"We do Baa-chan. I will always love my family but the Uchiha clan is not my family you taught me that the word family meant more than just blood. You, Sai and Naruto are my family and I want to wear our family clan symbol on my back"

"Baa-chan before you took me in. I was an orphan not an Uzumaki just an orphan but you loved me I realized that the Uzumaki clan is more than just a name it's a bond and I want to share that bond with my family"

"I also want to wear our family symbol on my back Baa-chan please"

"Boys I would love that but because of the village laws if I accepted than one of you would be the heir and the others will not be. I would have to choose between you and I can't do that"

"Actually we already talked about that and we decided that Sai would be the clan heir" said Sasuke shocking Kari further

"Why did you guys choose Sai?"

Naruto covered that one "Well I am going to be Hokage so I won't be able to focus on the clan duties Sasuke is gunning for ANBU commander which leaves Sai so he gets to be the clan head"

Turning to face Sasuke Kari asked "you want to be an ANBU commander?"

"Hai someone needs to protect the Dobe Kami knows how much trouble he will get himself into without me there to watch his back"

Naruto was a twitch away from attacking Sasuke so before his brother lost his temper again Sai asked "so do we have permission Baa-chan?"

"Do you boys realize just how hard the roads that you have chosen are?"

The boys simply smiled and said in unison "it won't be fun any other way"

Their confidence brought a proud smirk to Kari's face "Well I suppose you should leave your clothes here for Hashi to add our clan symbol to them ne"

The boys grinned from ear to ear before Naruto spoke up "wait Baa-chan what is your clan symbol by the way?"

"Well it is quite simple really; a claw mark" seeing their confused faces she decided to tell them why their clan was represented by a claw mark.

"You see the claw mark is always in threes the first mark signifies loyalty to family above all else the second claw mark represents our deadliness to those who would dare cross us and the final mark represents hope in any form. Together the claw marks represent a clan that is loyal, dangerous and yet optimistic about what ever storms comes our way"

The boys were very impressed with the things that their clan represented it was inspiring heck even Hashi was impressed "well if you guys give a few minutes I can have your clan symbol added to your clothes and three sets of each"

"Thank you Hashi"

A few minutes later the boys and their grandmother headed home unaware of the danger that was heading their way in the form of a certain jinchuriki.

_Uchiha clan household_

The door opening pulled both Itachi and Mikoto from their conversation.

"Afternoon Father" said Itachi who noticed that his father had the same look in his eyes that his mother did but he was also…hopeful?

"Oh hello Itachi how was your mission?"

"It went well Father. May I ask what happened while I was away?"

Fugaku and Mikoto shared a look with Mikoto shaking her head indicating that she did not want him to know but Fugaku had a different opinion

"He will have to find out eventually my love it is better it comes from us"

"Fugaku he is a kid"

"Not anymore"

"Fugaku please"

"Mother Father's right I am not a kid anymore I can handle this and if I can't then I have you and father to help me but please I need you to trust me"

"It's not that I don't trust you Itachi but I…I miss my little boy sometimes I mean you always act so mature and there is already so much on your young shoulders, is it wrong for a mother to not want her son to grow up too fast?"

"Mikoto he is always going to be your little boy and you can smother him anytime you like but right now he needs to know this"

Even though she felt like her family was ganging up on her she relented, "okay fine I just thought that, you know what forget it you can tell him"

Knowing full well that this was not the end of this conversation he proceeded to tell Itachi what was going on then he told them both of what had become of the meeting with the Hokage and the council

"And that is everything"

Itachi was floored he really did not know what to think I mean if Tsume had not been in that meeting with his father and the two Hokages then right now they would all be preparing on how to not stop or prevent but how to control the outcome of a civil war and if that was not bad enough when the story is then told the Uchiha clan, his clan and family, would go down in history the same way Madara did; evil and power-hungry.

The first emotion that he experienced after his father gave him the previously on recap was shock the next one was gratitude to Tsume for giving his father hope of a better outcome other than a massacre or civil war. After that was rage at the Elders for killing his best friend just to prove a point but seeking revenge was not going to help he had already made peace with Shisui's death but that does not mean he won't take pleasure in taking them down should the opportunity present itself Shisui deserved nothing less so after sorting through his emotions he looked back at his parents who were waiting for his response and said

"I can't believe that the Elders would really go that far I mean I know that you said that they were greedy for power but I always thought that deep down they were just misguided but to sink this low"

"Well that is the situation that we find ourselves in right now and if we don't diffuse this quickly and wisely then the consequences will be devastating"

"Are you okay Itachi we know this is a lot to take in"

"I think I am going to be fine Mom I can see why you didn't want to tell me especially about Shisui but I am glad that I know now because I can finally move on. But the Elders need to pay for what they did at the very least the truth must be revealed it is the least we can do to honour Shisui's memory"

"I agree but first we need to get our house in order"

Happy that her son was okay Mikoto faced her husband "do you really think that Tsume's plan is going to work?"

"Considering what the alternative will be I hope and pray that it does because otherwise it will be bad for all of us"

"You know that the Elders are going to try and pull something right I mean all the Uchihas in one place for a meeting I will bet everything I have that they will find a way to turn the meeting in their favour"

"I know that my dear I will just have to do my best to counter them because I refuse to let Sasuke grow up during a civil war especially not one orchestrated by his own blood"

Itachi grimaced he was born during the tail end of the Third Shinobi World War and it did things to his psyche that he did not want to happen to Sasuke the boy deserved to enjoy his childhood as much as possible that was something that was denied him but it will not be denied to his little brother.

Unaware of how much he sounded like his mother he looked at his parents "How can I help?"

His determination to assist them generated different reactions from his parents; his father was proud of the man he was becoming but his mother was worried that he was becoming a man too fast.

"Well for now nothing except pray I will pass the word to the entire clan to meet us at the dojo, it is the only place that can take all of us, you guys head there and I will meet you soon."

_Thirty minutes later_

The entire clan gathered themselves in the dojo as per their clan head's instructions but they did not know why they were gathered there; the Elders however were smirking which was a good sign to some and a bad thing to others including Fugaku and his family.

Itachi knew that his parents were nervous so he decided to take the lead on this one hopefully his initiative will spur his parents to act and besides he did have some things to say to his clan members especially the Elders

"Good Afternoon fellow clansmen, I am Itachi son of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha and Chunin of Konohagakure no Sato as well as a citizen of Fire Country this meeting was not called on my whim or on the whim of my father as none of you should be so disrespected so as to be called to a meeting on a whim. I however will like to plead with you to give me a few minutes to speak with you on some very salient points that I am distressed about before my father addresses the issue that he called this meeting for"

Taking a deep breath Itachi started "Long ago our clan was both feared and respected for our strength, our vengeance and our skill. We were unstoppable and the only clan that could equal us were the Senju. Uchiha Madara is revered as the clan patriarch but he is not the only role that he played was that he was the clan head at the time the Uchiha and Senju clans decided to stop fighting and formed an alliance thus taking the first step towards the creation of Konoha. Konoha is the child of both the Uchiha and Senju clans and perhaps it has forgotten that."

Murmurs of agreement flowed through the clan and the Elders were openly pleased Fugaku and Mikoto however had no idea where Itachi was going with this but hopefully he had it covered unfortunately what he said next did nothing to ease their growing worries

"The worst part is that if we are to refer to Konoha as a child of both the Uchiha and Senju clans then we know that our clan is the mother in this relationship not just because we defend it daily both inside and out or because our financial resources were exhausted to just keep this child growing strong not because we are the only one raising our child after the Senju clan became extinct no the worst part is that despite all our sacrifices despite the fact that we stood against our clan head in favour of this child, this village treats us like dirt. They believe that we are responsible for the Kyuubi attack all those years ago. They also believe that we are arrogant, power-hungry, blood-thirsty savages who will maim and kill at the slightest provocation.

"We have given blood, sweat and tears and it is still not enough to satisfy this village. What else can we give is then the question? What else could we possibly give before this village starts treating us with the respect that we deserve? The real question my fellow clansmen is what else can a mother do when her only child turns her back on them? What else can she do but forgive her?"

WTF was the thought that vibrated throughout the room, the Elders who were nodding their heads in agreement before were glaring at Itachi in confusion and as for Mikoto she finally saw were her son was going with this and she couldn't be more proud unfortunately Fugaku still wasn't getting so Mikoto signalled him to keep listening

Internally Itachi smirked at the whiplash the Elders were feeling right now but he did not let it show on his face as he continued "the truth of the matter is this there is not a mother here who is given the amount of respect that they deserve; for carrying us for nine painful months, for the pain that you endured delivering us, for stress that we put you under growing up, for the pain that you get when we turn our backs on you as soon as we are old enough but still you love us, you care for us. Fatherhood is easy just set an example for your children to follow and discipline them when they do wrong. But it is the mothers that care for the details, have we eaten, do we have friends, are we hurt or confused. Before a true mother thinks of herself she first thinks of her child; are they okay? Are they happy? Do they have the basic necessities? And Heaven forbid they die that pain is carried more by the mother

"I will never be able to thank my mother for all the sacrifices that she made for me and my brother but for as long as we are both alive we will always remember the woman who taught us true love by showing it. Thank you mom and thank you to all the mothers in the room we wouldn't be here if not for you"

As Fugaku watched his son come back to give his mother a hug which made her tear up he couldn't be more proud of him and he was not the only one affected after the speech he gave everyone hugged their mothers to show their appreciation for them. The Elders on the other hand were positively furious with Itachi especially since they knew that after what just happened the clan will be less inclined to follow them blindly because in one fell swoop Itachi had cemented the clan's belief and trust in the clan head and his family as leaders of the Uchiha clan and depending on what Fugaku said would determine whether or not their original plan still had any hope of coming to pass

Fortunately they had a contingency plan in place and they immediately sent two of the members to put that plan in place and get ready for their signal if Fugaku thought that he could win this battle with sentimental words then he had another thing coming

**IN MEMORY OF CLARA 1965-2015**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Fugaku came forward to address his clan while keeping an extra eye on the Elders and when he saw two of the ten members leave he signalled Itachi to follow them _'sorry old timers but your time is up this is my clan and I will defend it from any opposition internal or otherwise'_

"My fellow clansman my family is in charge of ruling the clan and after I am gone my son will take over from me and then his son after him and so on and so forth. But leadership is useless without the commitment and trust of those who are following. There have been some grievances shared by a lot of you and I understand where you are coming from. Yes our current status in the village is worrisome and yes there are some rights that we have as founders but the trend and the option that some of us are considering is unspeakable.

As a clan head I have a responsibility to represent this clan to village at the head level and I do my job to the best of my ability but as a father I would rather not be a part of what this clan has become as many of you would have noticed my son Sasuke doesn't stay in the clan compound not because of anything but because I failed as a father by choosing the clan over him and his brother. I have made peace with my children but the scars of the neglect that they endured as sons will never truly disappear

I have decided to stop putting the clan above my family because the clan wants to eliminate the village and the people who have given my sons the love and examples that I failed to give them and more importantly because I shouldn't have to choose between the clan and my family. We are one family and if we can't agree on that then it doesn't matter whether we are treated like royalty or paupers we will never be truly happy. Moreover the rights that we are claiming are nothing compared to the price of going through with this plan. The price for doing this is that our children will grow up with the burden of knowing that their fathers and mothers started a civil war killing who knows how many people over respect and pride

If we do that then how we better than the image the village already has of us…"

"Great speech Fugaku really great speech" said Kai Fugaku's father and one of the Elders "you have really inspired this old man to stand up and fight for what is right but before I do that I have a few questions for you. Are you saying that we should just forget the things that we have had to endure and forgive this village? After everything that they have put us through not to mention what they failed to do when Shisui died? Do you take our pain and suffering so lightly that you would presume to think that a few strong words will change our minds?"

Remembering what Tsume told him about proving just who was leading the clan Fugaku narrowed his eyes and looked directly into the crowd then with a stern voice said "History will mark this day as the day each and every one of you was presented with a choice; those who wish to stain the streets of our home with blood stand on the side of the Elders you feel that enough is enough and something drastic must be done go ahead stand with the Elders no one will stop you from making a choice but if you still have hope for this village then stand with me because I refuse to destroy or harm this village. But before you make your choice know this once you choose a side you cannot change your mind no matter what happens"

"Now, now Fugaku it hasn't come to that"

"Yes it has father choose now or I will assume that you all have chosen the side of the Elders"

"Fugaku calm yourself we shouldn't argue I am sure that with…"

"Father if you don't stop talking right now I will show you exactly why I am called Konoha's Dark Wolf now choose"

The tension in the dojo was thick and heavy the clan did not want to choose Kai not after all that they have heard but right now they were scared of Fugaku who looked every bit as dangerous as the Bingo book portrayed him. However Kai felt that it was time to implement plan B

"Fugaku you really shouldn't stand so proudly especially not after what you did"

Fugaku started leaking KI scaring the kids in the audience but the tone he spoke in was far worse "Excuse me?"

Unmoved and confident "you know what you did Fugaku please don't let me say it before the clan I wouldn't do that to my own child especially after you begged me not to say anything about how you are responsible for the death of your siblings"

The shock Fugaku felt lasted only a spilt second before his KI flooded the entire dojo sending the children into fits until he centred it on his father who was visibly sweating and the words that Fugaku spoke after that almost made him wish he did not awaken the wolf in Fugaku he was expecting his son to break down or at the very least look shaken he did not expect this

"Uchiha Kai you are on your last words I suggest you choose them very carefully"

Kai knew that he could not go back now or else he will lose the advantage after all he had proof of his allegations, forged proof yes but hopefully no one will be able to tell the difference, "Fugaku my son my fellow Elders have copies of your diary" the two elders who left earlier stepped forward with the copies showing Fugaku's handwritings which they then handed to a random Uchiha

"Please read these copies for everyone to hear"

"No need they are fake copies"

"How dare you accuse us of forgery we are the Elder council"

The random person went poof revealing Itachi under a henge with his Sharingan activated "how I know is unimportant right now but please everyone who can use their sharingan please look at the document"

Now to the normal eye the copy was exactly Fugaku's handwriting but the Sharingan were not normal they picked up tiny differences in the copy differences that Fugaku would never make because it is his handwriting this once again tipped things in Fugaku's favour that is until the Elders attacked the plan C was to kill Itachi and Mikoto and Sasuke forcing Fugaku to step down from his position unfortunately for them that plan would have worked splendidly had Kai not awoken the Wolf

Fugaku's Sharingan spun and changed into the Mangekeyou Sharingan which the five of the Elders looked into "Tsukoyomi" ten seconds later all five elders dropped down to the ground dead Kai realizing that it was a lost cause ran away the remaining four Elders tried to follow his lead but Fugaku was faster with precise lightning enhanced strikes struck two in the heart the last two huddled into a corner scared shitless from the amount of KI that Fugaku was leaking

Fortunately for them Fugaku had other ideas "I am not going to kill you on the condition that you stop trying to poison the minds of our clan members against the village or else"

They nodded their heads so fast Itachi thought it would fall off. After that everything went smoothly everyone accepted Fugaku's leadership with open arms while the remaining two Elders spent the night in the police cells as punishment for their treason. As for Kai he made his way to secluded part of the village about to leave when a vortex opened in front of him and before he could say a word someone stabbed him in the chest with a blade his last words went unheard while his assailant vanished into another vortex disappointed that his plan failed.

_The next day_

_Sozen clan household_

The boys had just finished eating breakfast and were on their way out with their grandmother when Sai suddenly decided to go back and pick up Force Edge and seal him into his arm

"Uh Sai you do realize that we are going to the academy right?" asked Sasuke

"Yes I do"

"So why are you carrying Force Edge to the academy ttebayo?"

"I am not carrying him because of the academy but just in case I need him or have you two forgotten our bad luck of getting attacked by people who want us dead. I just want to be on the safe side"

While Kari did not like the reality of it Sai had a very strong point these three seemed to attract trouble like a magnet "why don't you boys carry your weapons too just in case like Sai said"

"Okay Baa-chan"

After gearing up so to speak the family made their way to the Academy. On getting there Kari gave them hugs and wished them luck after which she gave them their class number, directions and left for home promising to pick them up after school. While in the hallway they kept discussing how the academy was going to be.

"I just hope we don't have a boring Sensei otherwise I am out ttebayo history is bad enough if I have to listen to a boring history class I will lose it"

"Dobe if it is not practical you will lose it"

"True but I look forward to learning perhaps the Sensei will be able to answer some of my questions"

Sasuke and Naruto shared a look then promptly sent a prayer on behalf of the unfortunate person about to be Sai's Sensei

"Well this is it room 106"

"Oi wait Teme let's make an entrance"

Sasuke deadpanned then promptly shoved the door open and walked in "Sorry dobe no weird entrances"

Naruto glared at him while Sai smirked at their antics "stupid Teme ruining my fun"

Immediately they entered the boys became the centre of attention thankfully it seemed the Sensei wasn't around yet. The first thing that caught everyone's attention was their clothes the boys in the class immediately became jealous while the girls were impressed but while they looked badass did they have the skills to back it up was the question.

"Yo everyone my name is Sozen Naruto and these are my brothers Sasuke and Sai"

"Pleasure to meet you"

"Hn" Sasuke grunted then went to seat down with his elbows on the desk and his chin in between his interlocked fingers looking cool all the way pissing Naruto off causing him to stick his tongue at him fortunately Sai was able to direct him to the desk were Sasuke was and sat down but already a social hierarchy had been formed with Sasuke as the cool, nonchalant one, Naruto as the mischievous one and Sai as the mediator between the two

But before any interactions could be made two Chunin entered; the first one had brown hair tied into a spiky ponytail with a scar across his nose with dark brown eyes while the other one had mop-like white hair with light blue eyes.

"Hello everyone welcome to another school year for those of you just joining us my name is Iruka and this is my assistant Mizuki" Iruka looked at his assistant to further introduce himself only to find him leaking KI and glaring at something and after following his line of sight he saw a blond boy with blue eyes and wait was those whiskers marks on his face, no it can't be Mizuki's cold tone brought him out of his musings

"Why don't you introduce yourself to the class new kid?"

Naruto shoulders sagged _'I guess people hate me even here'_ "Sozen Naruto"

"What did you do to get your name changed _Naruto_" the amount of venom he used to call his name made Iruka wince and it confused the class especially Ino who remembered seeing people glaring at the Naruto kid at the mall the other day the question is why and why did she get a headache whenever she thought about him or his situation

"Mizuki that is enough it is good to have you in our class Naruto what about you two what are your names?"

"Sozen Sai"

"None of your business" said Sasuke who was openly glaring at Mizuki as if daring him to try something

While he could insist he introduce himself he did not want to increase the amount of tension in the room but thankfully Sai introduced him "his name is Sozen Sasuke Iruka-sensei"

"Thank you Sai now class today we are going to be teaching you the proper way to throw multiple kunai at a standing target so will everyone please follow me outside"

"I say we accidently stab that fool for what he just did" said Sasuke

"Sasuke we can't do that he is our Sensei and there is no way that you make something like that accidental enough to fool Baa-chan hey Naruto are you okay?"

"No not really I don't know why I thought the academy would be different from the rest of the village I hate that they hate me for something that I did not do. So how about we give them a good reason to hate me?"

"What are you talking about Naruto?"

"Follow me"

When they got outside they noticed Iruka and Mizuki standing beside three targets and everyone was instructed to hit the bulls-eye using as many kunai as they could. They were called to the spot one by one but the minute Mizuki saw Naruto and his brothers he called them to have at it hoping to shame them after all who would have taught them how to throw a kunai much less the five which was the least amount a student was allowed to use. He was going to regret that decision.

Naruto started using ten kunai and with speed that no eight year old should have sent nine of the ten kunai dead centre at the target with three kunai in each target board but one of the kunai 'accidentally' nearly neutered Mizuki "Gomen Sensei"

Sasuke smirked deviously "now that's what I am talking about" when it was Sasuke turn he also got a nearly perfect score but his one miss forced Mizuki to duck but he was not fast enough as the kunai shaved half of his hair off causing everyone to chuckle and then knowing that he was being targeted he went to stand with one of the academy students with a smirk on his face unfortunately Sai who previously did not want to join in his brothers fun but with what he just saw he became pissed

So like his brothers he got a nearly perfect score but his one miss cut Mizuki's pant waist and his briefs unveiling little Mizuki in all his glory causing him to shriek and flash away but not before Naruto took a couple pictures.

"Yep I feel better now nice shot Sai"

Iruka went to meet the trio knowing full well that those shots were intentional "you know you shouldn't attack your Sensei"

"And our Sensei should not judge a person by rumour and speculation" said Sasuke

"Listen Iruka-sensei we are not going to apologize for anything I am not what he thinks I am and I refuse to seat back and let him walk all over me not now not ever. Do you understand me?"

"I see well good luck you three are very good"

"And we are really nice people ttebayo not demons I mean come on we are eight"

Iruka knew it will take some time before he could truly get over what happened all those years ago but he was willing to try besides if someone could adopt him then the blond should not be so bad "just be careful alright?"

"Hai Sensei"

Once that was settled Iruka went back to the testing but now everyone knew who the strongest people in class were and add that to the fact that they were ridiculously handsome meant that the Sozen boys were the most popular guys in the school and that meant fangirls were formed causing the boys to unconsciously shiver although in Land of Hot Springs a certain pervert suddenly felt very proud of godson

_Hokage Training fields_

Now naturally Kakashi was still pissed at his predecessor but when he was given a way out of paperwork for a few minutes at least he could not refuse but he did not know why the Sandaime called him here.

"Ah Kakashi-kun thank you for coming"

"Sure what's up Sandaime-sama?"

"Well it just came to my attention that you are now the Godaime Hokage, a Kage of your whole village"

"Yes I am. Sandaime-sama what is going on here?" _'Why oh why am I getting the feeling that I should not have come here?'_

"Kakashi the Kage is a title held by the strongest in the village and for a village like ours we have a history of having legendary Kages. Look at it the First was a sage able to control the nine bijuu. The Second was the greatest strategist and water user in the world till date. The Third is called the God of Shinobi for a reason. The Fourth was the Yellow Flash. And every one of us is SS-class in the Bingo Book with a Flee on sight order on us. But the Fifth is an A rank shinobi this won't do"

"So you will take back the seat and allow me to retire?"

"Oh God no even if I do that history will still show one Hokage who was not up to standard"

"So what are you going to do about this?"

The Sandaime pulled out his pipe and took a drag before saying "well I am going to start giving you solo missions that will push you and earn you your Kage title I will also start training you"

Now every Shinobi knew the importance of training and if they had the chance to be personally trained by the Sandaime Hokage himself they would jump at it without question but Kakashi got to the level he is by trusting his instincts and right now they were telling him to run like hell

"Yo look at the time well I have to get going right now so I will see you later"

"Of course you are free to go"

Just as he was about to take off he remembered what happened the last time he attempted to escape the Hokage and nearly lost his manhood in the process "you are not really letting me go are you?"

"Of course I am if you decide to not train and try to uphold the tradition who am I to stop you but remember this Kakashi-kun I am not as young as I used to be so sooner or later this village will look to you to handle an attack that they can't besides you know that if our enemies do not have absolute belief that the Hokage is very powerful they will start to test the waters if you know what I mean"

"And that will be my responsibility as the Godaime"

Hiruzen nodded slowly "and if you can't handle it then we might as well let Iwa and Kumo invade and destroy us right now damning our people to hell"

"Tch I hate it when you get like this but I can't deny the fact that you're right. So when do we start?"

"Right now" in the blink of an eye the Sandaime buried his staff in stomach sending him inside a tree

"Fuck me"

"Now, now such language is unbecoming of a Hokage"

"Fine then, fuck you for not warning me"

"Well surely you didn't think that Tsunade created her monstrous strength from thin air without experience did you?"

"I take it back fuck me"

"Oh stop complaining I barely put any strength in that attack"

Kakashi groaned but got up and was about to lift his headband before he received another strike in the jaw that careened him flying into a branch "oh for fucks sake"

"No Sharingan you rely on that implant to much now up"

"Is this training going to be an excuse for you to beat me senseless?"

"Astute as always now up we go"

Just as he got back to his feet he heard "incoming" before he was slammed in the back of the head and got a face full of dirt and then refused to stand up

"Well I did warn you"

They just started but Kakashi already felt every part of his body screaming at him to stop so he just laid there

"Now Kakashi a samurai would not attack you because you are down and defenceless unfortunately I am not a samurai"

A spike in chakra forced Kakashi to jump just in time to avoid this

"Earth style: Earth Spike Jutsu"

"You gotta be kidding me"

"What I am holding back I swear"

Kakashi twitched and while he was calculating how fast he can run away without the Sandaime noticing the Sandaime's chakra spiked again

"Fire style: Flower Phoenix Jutsu"

"Shit!"

'_Ah I have missed torturing a student'_ the truth was that the Sandaime knew that Kakashi had an SS class Nin in him, the boy was a prodigy for a reason just as soon as he beat the laziness out of him that is kukukukuku

_Outskirts of Konoha_

Kabuto was waiting for his master's arrival to be honest the message was very vague so he really did not know what to expect but knowing Orochimaru it will not end well for one unfortunate bastard

"Are you him?"

Turning around he noticed a child with grey-ish blue hair with cold eyes wearing a white top with a purple sash and black pants with black sandals "am I who?"

"Are you Naruto?"

Raising an eyebrow in interest Kabuto replied "no my name is Kabuto who are you?"

"Sora" the boy replied

"I see well Sora why are you looking for Naruto?"

"I need to kill him so that I can be free of this"

That was when Kabuto noticed the covered arm and the amount of demonic chakra that was leaking off it "who sent you here?"

"A snake"

'_Interesting what are you up to Sensei?'_ "Tell me Sora-kun did the snake give you anything apart from Naruto's name?"

"Yes an injection with black fluid and this paper I will place this paper on Naruto then I will inject myself with the black fluid and kill him"

"Is it okay if I see them Sora-kun? I am a friend of the snake"

When Sora gave them to Kabuto he smirked _'a five pronged seal and the demonic extract and judging from the blank and cold look in his eyes then he has been brainwashed to attack to kill otherwise there is no way an eight year old will be comfortable with attacking someone else but why this one, what makes this one special?'_

"Thank you Sora-kun but before I take you to Naruto why do you want to kill him?"

"To free myself from the Kyuubi's chakra"

'_A jinchuriki but that's impossible Naruto is the jinchuriki for the Kyuubi but if what he just said is true then' _

Kabuto cackled "very well Sora-kun here let me show you to where Naruto is but don't attack him in public or you know what just wait here and I will bring him to you okay"

"Okay"

'_Oh Orochimaru-sama you are truly an evil genius' _

_Konoha Ninja Academy_

_Lunch Time_

The Sozen trio were currently hiding on the roof of the school from perhaps the most confusing and scary thing that they had ever seen; to truly understand their fear let us go back a few minutes.

Flashback

Iruka had just dismissed everyone for lunch when a girl came up to them blushing and giggling "um do you guys want to have lunch together?"

Just as Naruto and Sai were about to tell her yes I mean lunch couldn't hurt Sasuke had a very bad feeling about this and seconds later another girl came up to them pushing the other girl aside "no have lunch with me not her"

"Who do you think you are I came here first"

"Yeah so what"

Just as those two were about to start fighting two girls appeared behind them with wide eyes "we won't fight you can share us"

And that was the beginning of the end the first two jumped the other two and then every other girl decided to take advantage the end result had the boys hightailing it out of there

Flashback end

And now they could see the girls looking for them and what they were talking about was scaring the shit out of them 'marriage' 'children' they were eight for Hashirama's sake and there were some who wanted pieces of them like their hair, clothes and there was even one girl who just wanted to stare at them indefinitely

"Girls are so weird ttebayo"

"Definitely I mean this kind of behaviour is illogical"

"Forget that Sai we need to find a way to stop this now"

"That may be difficult"

Turning around they noticed Kabuto was standing behind them with an excited smirk on his face that sent shivers down Naruto's spine, yes Naruto still did not trust him but for the life of him he couldn't say why he just did not like this guy

Sasuke was thinking about something else entirely _'how the hell did we not notice him standing there and if he is that good in stealth then how is he still a Genin I mean no normal Genin should have that level of stealth unless he is hiding something'_

"Oh hello Kabuto-san we have not seen you in a while hope all is well"

"Yes indeed Sai-kun I however came to borrow Naruto for a few minutes if that's okay I promise to have him back before lunch is over"

Naruto's eyes narrowed at the request and he was not the only one Sasuke had enough encounters with people trying to kill him and his brothers that he developed a feeling for this sort of things and everything in him was screaming trouble but that couldn't be right I mean Kabuto had been nothing but nice to them since the first day they met

"And what exactly do you need me for Kabuto?"

"Oh I will explain on the way Naruto-kun but we really must get going"

Now that got the attention of all of them Sasuke turned to Naruto and said "Go with him Naruto we will see you when you get back" he however communicated a different message silently: go with him we will follow we got your back.

"Alright Kabuto lead the way"

"Excellent now we must hurry time for lunch is almost over"

After they left Sai turned to Sasuke "now do you see why I carry Force Edge around?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes "yeah whatever let's go"

"Wait if Kabuto was able to sneak up on us then how are we supposed to tail them without him knowing?"

Sasuke looked up in thought then smirked "you know what they say you can't escape the eagle's eye"

"Nobody says that"

Sasuke clicked his tongue "just listen"

With Naruto

Our blond noticed that they were heading for the village outskirts at a suspiciously fast pace, suspicious because Naruto couldn't sense anyone around and even if Kabuto was after the Kyuubi or wanted revenge or something he was acting very excited too excited to be one of his haters and despite how stealthy he was he knew that Kabuto was not strong enough to take him out so what was the game plan here?

Fingering the tattoo holding Strom Blade Naruto wished he was a Yamanaka right now because if there was one thing that training under his grandmother had created in him was a strong dislike for walking into a situation blind without an alternative wait that's it

'_Kyu are you there?'_

"**Yeah what is it brat?"**

'_Do you sense anything up ahead?'_

"**No I don't and why are you traveling into the village outskirts with Kabuto are you so daft that you don't know he is leading you into a trap?"**

'_I know that you overgrown fur ball what I want to know is why?'_

"**Ever heard of the saying 'curiosity killed the cat'"?**

'_Come on Kyu Kabuto is about to play a big hand here I need to catch him in the act before I take him to school'_

"**And what happens when the hand he plays is above your league?"**

'_Well that's why I have you and I can see Sasuke and Sai tailing us so I think I will be fine'_

"**Don't say I didn't warn you kit"**

Kyuubi was about to recede back into Naruto's mind when something entered his range of sense something that felt eerily familiar but he couldn't decide what it was so he decided to stick around

A few minutes later they landed in a clearing and Naruto noticed a kid his age with dead eyes "uh what the hell is going on here?"

"Is this him?"

"Yes this is him you two have fun now"

Watching Kabuto teleport out of the way and turning his back on Sora because he did not consider him a threat was the biggest mistake he could ever make because Sora used that opportunity to slam the five pronged seal on him and activate it sending Naruto to his knees in pain and just when Sora was about to hit him Sasuke and Sai dropped from the sky and sent a back kick to Sora's head sending him flying backwards

"Naruto are you okay?"

"No Sai damn it my chakra is out of control I can barely use it"

"I think you guys should see this"

Looking up the boys saw the bandages around Sora's right arm fall off revealing a demonic arm and that was before he chucked a vial of black liquid down his throat that caused that arm to light up with purple flames and his eyes were pitch black with hints of red in them and finally the field was flooded with KI that was too similar to Naruto when he used Kyu's chakra

"What is this kid a demon?"

Sasuke's question was answered when Sora's body exploded with purple chakra

Jinchuriki

"Sasuke we have to somehow beat this guy at least until Naruto feels better"

"Don't worry Sai I may not be able to use chakra but I can still use my sword"

"Are you sure about this?"

Naruto got up and narrowed his eyes "yeah I am sure let's do this"

Drawing their weapons the brothers got into their stances and waited

Sora didn't waste any time in charging them at speeds that were impossible sending them flying with blows to the ribs then the chakra around his right arm extended and grabbed Naruto in mid-air and slammed him into the ground

Sasuke being the fastest of the three activated his Sharingan and going through hand signs said "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bomb"

Sora was hit by the bombs because he did not even bother to move but the technique gave Naruto time to jump out of there landing beside his brothers "crap this guy is fast"

"Here he comes again" Sasuke's warning gave the trio the time they needed to barely escape getting flattened by a purple fist after regrouping Sora looked at Sasuke's eyes and with that same dead tone said

"You are Uchiha Sasuke the snake wants you and Sai alive but the Kyuubi must die"

"Great just fan-fucking-tastic another assassin and who the hell is the snake ttebayo?"

"Move it" once again Sasuke saved them from getting a vicious haymaker to the head

Naruto knew he had to come up with a plan and now otherwise they were toast period but first things first they needed to buy themselves sometime "Sai ground him"

Going through hand signs Sai said "Earth Style: Underworld" the ground spilt open and Sora fell in Sai quickly closed it up but at most he could hold the technique for a few minutes considering the kind of opponent they were dealing with

"Dobe please tell me that you have a plan"

"I working on it damn it"

"Well hurry it up"

Looking around them Naruto noticed that the trees were very healthy which meant that the soil was fertile which also meant that there was a large source of water nearby and Sasuke had an unnaturally strong lightning affinity thanks to Yamato

"Alright I got a plan but it is a long shot and we may end up destroying more landscape like last time"

"Don't care dobe what is it?"

"Okay let's go"

Racing through the trees the boys heard an explosion behind them "Great he's loose this plan better work dobe"

A few minutes later the boys landed by a lake that they jumped over then Naruto stopped

"This is your plan; drowning?"

"Shut it Sasuke Sai I need you to drag that kid into the lake and hold him there"

No sooner had he finished his sentence when Sora busted through the treeline and jumped fortunately for them Sai was faster

"Earth Style: Mud Dragon Jutsu" a big dragon busted through the lake and wrapped itself around Sora and dragged him into the lake

"Sasuke lit it up"

Sasuke smirked then going through hand signs slammed his hand on the lake and said "Lightning Style: Zeus Field"

The lake lit up like the Fourth of July after the technique ended the trio jumped back as Sora crawled out of the now ruined lake twitching madly then promptly passed out causing the boys to breathe a sigh of relief five seconds before the Sandaime, Kakashi and Kari dashed into the clearing

Sasuke however could not help himself "took you guys long enough what did you stop for ice cream on the way"

Naruto rolled his eyes then he ran up to meet them "Baa-chan what is the heck is this?"

Lifting up his shirt Kari noticed the five pronged seal over Naruto's Eight Trigram Seal perfectly cutting Naruto from his chakra and the Kyuubi's it was too perfect for an eight year old boy to have drawn by himself but before she asked what the hell happened

"Hold still dear I am going to remove it and it is going to hurt"

Naruto gulped if his grandmother aka granny from hell said that this was going to hurt then this will be bad "Hai Baa-chan"

"Five Pronged Unseal"

Naruto grunted and slide back bumping into Sai "crap that hurt ttebayo"

"Suck it up Dobe"

"Teme how about I do it to you then we'll see how you like it?"

"Now, now boys let us not argue how about you tell us what exactly happened here and who this young child is?"

"'Young child' my ass Jiji that jerk would have killed me if Sai and Sasuke hadn't showed up not to mention that Kabuto led him here for their master"

"And who is their master?" asked Kakashi

"Well we didn't really get a name but he said that the snake wanted me and Sasuke alive but that he should kill Naruto"

The three adults groaned at the word snake causing Sasuke to raise an eyebrow in question Kari decided to just tell them who they were dealing with "Orochimaru is the snake"

"Eh how can you be so sure Baa-chan?"

The Sandaime decided to answer this one "Because Naru-chan only Orochimaru is smart enough to have spies in our village yet arrogant enough to unveil them if he decides to and he is a snake summoner not to mention he wants to have the Sharingan eye so that he can fulfil his dream of mastering all the jutsu in the world"

"Well that is not going to happen ttebayo no way are we letting him have Sasuke"

"Aw thanks Dobe"

Naruto's eye twitched at the suggestive tone "you just had to be a bastard and ruin the moment didn't you?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about Na-ru-to"

"Before you two start fighting why don't you tell us what happened here?"

"Sure thing Baa-chan"

After the debrief the ANBU that Kakashi had assigned to take Kabuto into custody teleported into the clearing "Hokage-sama I have some bad news"

"Yes what is it?"

"I couldn't find Kabuto but a chakra spike in one of our training areas revealed that Kabuto had a hidden agenda"

"Well out with it man"

"Right sorry sir we found scents that indicate that Kabuto and someone else abducted Mitirashi Anko the trail vanishes at the Eastern part of the village"

"Wait Anko-nee-chan has been kidnapped?!" asked Sasuke

Sai being able to put two on two together realized a chilling truth "we were the distraction"

"Did you get anything that will help us identify who this someone else is?"

"Negative Sandaime-sama it was a complete stranger we however retrieved a piece of bone at the scene we gave them to the hospital for identification"

"Call the Elders together and tell them to meet me at my office immediately. Sandaime-sama, please take this child to the Interrogations department and find out what he knows or at the very least who he is. Kari-san you can take the boys home we will take care of this"

"You're going to find her right Hokage-sama?" asked a worried Sasuke

"Yes we will Sasuke you can count on that now go home and get some rest that fight took a lot of you and your brothers. Alright everyone let's go"

Hokage's Office

Fugaku and Tsume were waiting for the Godaime and the Sandaime because as far as they knew they were no crisis in the village at the moment in fact Kakashi had given them the day off in celebration of what happened in the Uchiha clan just yesterday so what was so important that they were called here.

They didn't have to wait long as both Hokages came in with very serious expressions on their faces after sitting down Kakashi addressed them giving them a run-down of what had happened with the Sozen trio causing Fugaku to nearly have a heart attack due to how close he was to losing his son to Orochimaru of all people but there was more

"Orochimaru used the diversion to kidnap Mitirashi Anko. ANBU found traces of a struggle between Kabuto and an unknown assailant in one of the training grounds unfortunately the trail disappeared at the Eastern part of the village. How they managed to escape we don't know and all we have now is an unconscious eight year old with a brainwash seal on him, meaning that not only did Orochimaru seal some of the Kyuubi's chakra in a child he brainwashed him so information wise the child is useless"

"Hokage-sama I don't mean to be forward here but we need to find that girl she is very precious to my family especially my son"

"Fugaku I don't know where to go from here I summoned my nin dogs to see if they could track Anko's scent they couldn't the Sandaime speculates that Orochimaru could have somehow reversed summoned them to another location entirely unfortunately that seems to be the case so if anyone has any idea on how to save Anko now is the time"

"Reverse summoning can it be tracked I mean does it leave a trail any kind of trail" asked Tsume

Sarutobi stroked his chin in thought "honestly no it doesn't however it is a space-time ninjutsu so there is a trail we can follow but it will require some very dangerous tracks after all space-time ninjutsu is no joking matter."

"But we can track it" asked a hopeful Fugaku who was not looking forward to telling Mikoto and Itachi that Anko had been kidnapped by her worst nightmare only Kami knows what Itachi would do especially if there was no way to find her

"Yes we can track it but I want you all to know that before I tell you how we can track it everything I am saying is based on speculation it has never been done so there is no way of knowing if it will work or what the consequences will be"

"We understand Sandaime-sama tell us" said Kakashi

"Very well space-time ninjutsu leaves a trail that can only be followed and tracked by a summoning animal who is very familiar with the summon that used the jutsu however there is no documented summon that is close to the Snake clan but I suppose that someone who versatile with their chakra could track them. The way I see it I can summon Emma who will then use the reverse summoning technique in the same place that Anko's tracks disappeared but he will need someone who knows Anko's chakra very well to direct him and can keep up with very high speeds so a Sharingan user who is familiar with Anko can track her but like I said I don't know if this will work or what will happen this is uncharted territory even for me"

"We have to try I will go and inform Itachi of the news then we will meet you at the spot where Anko disappeared, where exactly is this place?"

"Training Ground 44"

Raising an eyebrow in question Fugaku decided that he did not want to know why the Forest of Death "very well I will see you there"

Before he left Tsume turned to Sarutobi and said "wait I don't like the idea of sending a thirteen year old boy on what might as well be labelled a solo S class mission especially since it feels as if we are just handing Orochimaru a free Sharingan"

"She has a point Sandaime-sama there is no way of knowing if Itachi can defend himself if he even manages to make it to where Anko is"

"I know that is why I am sending Emma with him as soon as they touch down Emma will reverse summon all three of us so that we can defend him and get Anko out of there"

"Thank you Sandaime-sama I will be going then"

"Good luck"

Uchiha clan household

Itachi was restless and he had no idea why it started this morning on his way to Anko's place to tell her what happened yesterday but after talking with her she remembered that she promised a girl to meet her for training and after kissing him goodbye she took off now he was at home alone his mother had gone grocery shopping and then just then then the ANBU came with that message that his father is needed urgently in the Hokage's office so now he was beside himself with worry for what he couldn't say but something just wasn't right

'_Damn it where is this man anyway?'_ hopefully when his father came back he will let him know if anything is wrong

Just then his father came in with a dire expression on his face and Itachi's heart rate went through the proverbial roof

"Dad what happened is everything okay?"

"Itachi I am afraid that we don' t have a lot of time we need to get to the Forest of Death right now pack up for a high rank mission"

"Dad what"

"Now Itachi I will explain on the way"

Five minutes later father and son were ready and then Fugaku teleported them to the location confusing Itachi further but if he thought his heart was beating fast before he nearly had a heart attack when he saw the two Hokages and Tsume alongside the Sandaime's personal summon standing looking ready for battle

"Dad what is this? What is going on?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow "you haven't told him yet?"

Taking a deep breath Fugaku addressed his worried son "Anko was kidnapped earlier today by people we suspect work for Orochimaru her tracks vanished here due to a reverse summoning technique so Emma is going to do that same reverse summoning technique to try to follow the chakra trail left behind but he needs someone with a sharingan eye and who is very familiar with Anko's chakra to direct him it is the only option we have at the moment and this is uncharted territory we have no idea what would happen when you and Emma take this journey but should you land safely where Anko is then Emma will summon us to support you"

Itachi knew that now was not the time for him to go crazy with worry Anko needed him and he will be damned if he let anything stop him so with cold hard eyes he turned to Emma "do it"

Looking at Sarutobi Emma said "be ready for anything" he then took hold of Itachi and they disappeared in smoke

Meanwhile with Anko

She hurt everywhere that was the first thing that she realised when she came to after that came confusion as to exactly how she got hurt in the first place the last thing she remembered was heading to Training 24 when…

She shot up when she remembered how she was attacked by Orochimaru's lackeys Kabuto and Kimimaro and damn that Kaguya was fast not to mention fucking tough and then there was Kabuto that bloody traitor was able to heal anything she did to him and his chakra scalpels hurt but she remembered that she was close to taking his head off when something hit her in the head but if she was hit in the head then that means

Looking around she noticed the fact that she was in an underground cell that confirmed her fears: she had been captured by Orochimaru and she knew from experience that it will take a long time before anyone came for her Orochimaru was notorious for being able evade the best trackers in the planet so it was up to her to get out of here but as she tried to stand up she noticed that they had chained her to the ground and with her chakra this low and her body aching like this then she knew she couldn't break the chains not without injuring herself but whoever chained her up forgot something she was a girl

Removing the pin holding her hair in a ponytail she bent it then got to work on her chains starting with the ones on her feet so that if someone came unexpectedly they won't notice it since she could hide her ankle chains from view. Twenty tense minutes later she was free but just as she approached the cell door to unlock it she heard a laugh that she always heard in her nightmares

"Kukukuku impressive as always Anko-chan my how you have grown tell me did you miss me as much as I missed you"

Fear gripped her as she saw her former master standing right in front of her with a sick smile on his face "Orochimaru"

"Kukukuku so you haven't forgotten me that's good I was afraid that your time with that Uchiha boy had changed you I have to say though bagging yourself the Uchiha clan heir I am impressed does he treat you well my dear"

She couldn't breathe she couldn't think not because of the KI that he was leaking but because she had just put Itachi in Orochimaru's sights and knowing her former master only Kami knows what he would do to him

"Hmm what's this you look so pale my dear perhaps some food will help" and with that he unlocked her cell door "well come then let us get you something to eat you look famished"

"Hai"

"Oh so meek what ever happened to my fiery viper don't tell me that that boy is responsible"

"NO! I mean he didn't do anything"

"Hmm well just say the word and I will make sure he joins this lot here"

That was when she noticed that they were in a dungeon with tons of other cells that held people human beings who were missing parts or had additional parts when she saw a young girl who couldn't be older than Sasuke with scars on her pale skin her heart broke

"How could you do this? How could you do this to them?! They are human beings you fucking monster they deserve to be free"

"Ah there's my viper"

"I am not yours I will never be yours I don't care if I die here I won't let you hurt this people anymore" with that said she got into her stance ready to fight him with all she had but the serious expression on her face had the opposite effect on Orochimaru as he simply laughed out loud

"Ah yes I have missed you my little viper so much that I will humour you let us see how much my former student has learnt now be warned I get bored fast these days so try to make it entertaining and no I am not going to kill you I have too much use for you after all so let's begin"

Orochimaru's KI flooded the area causing her to stumble back but she was not going to give up, not when she couldn't get that little girl's face out of her head so straightening up she looked around her knowing that she had one chance to put Orochimaru down after which she will probably pass out she had to drive him back at least for a little while but before she struck the KI disappeared

"How ill-mannered of me do you want a soldier pill my dear my men really did a number on your reserves after all you know what here take that one it will help after all I can't have you passing out on me just when things get interesting"

Anko knew that her Sensei was arrogant but this one time she was thankful that he was because she had a surprise for him so taking the pill she felt it boost her chakra reserves then with a single hand sign she vanished into a cloud of leaves

"Konohagakure no Jutsu"

"Oh interesting what does this technique do?" when he didn't get a reply he tried locating her chakra only to find that all he could sense was leaves "so you divide your entire chakra into bits and then henge them into leaves then using a genjutsu you mask your scent and footsteps my, my Anko you have grown unfortunately as long as you stay in that form you can't attack anyone since leaves are a distraction nothing more and yet they use all your chakra to swarm your opponent. So tell me what use is this annoyance in a fight?"

'_You are about to find out'_ while he had accurately analysed her technique there were two parts of it that Itachi had helped her create first of only a tiny part of her chakra was used in the actual jutsu and genjutsu the second part was coming thanks to her wind affinity

The next thing Orochimaru heard before he was nearly diced alive was "Leaf Style: Hidden Daggers"

All the thousands of leaves suddenly spun and struck tearing at Orochimaru viciously before he flashed through hand signs "Wind Style: Wind Dome"

Unfortunately Orochimaru used the one technique that Anko had hoped he would use because the wind dome prevented most attacks but she was using wind chakra as well and she knew that technique inside and outside and she knew that as long as Orochimaru was inside that dome he couldn't move or hear or sense anything outside of it so quickly she called out what she hoped would be the finisher

"Leaf Style: Butterfly"

Innocently named the Butterfly technique was anything but the leaves gathered and formed a butterfly that charged the dome but just before it struck the dome the butterfly lit up with fire chakra and when it hit the dome Orochimaru's scream was drowned out by the blazing inferno Anko quickly used the remaining leaves to open the cell doors then released them

"Quickly let's go"

But before she could move an inch Orochimaru grabbed her by her neck and slammed her on the ground then using a cold dangerous tone ordered everyone to go back to their cells and everyone did except the little girl who screamed at Anko to get up and fight back pissing Orochimaru off more

Looking at Anko under him he said "this is for your insolence"

Anko could only watch in horror as he drove his hand through the little girl's chest then lifted her up as if to showcase her allowing Anko to watch as blood dripped down her mouth and the light disappeared from her eyes but just before she passed away the girl said "don't stop fighting Anko-nee-chan"

Anko screamed when the little girl died it felt like Orochimaru had ripped her heart out as well as the little girls' and after the pain and shock passed a new emotion took hold of her with a vengeance: hatred

Standing up slowly she growled out "I don't care how long it takes Orochimaru I will kill you with my bare hands I will take everything that you have worked hard to accomplish: your reputation and I will destroy it. I swear I will kill you, you sick son of a bitch!"

Roaring she charged him blindly only for him to backhand her to the wall causing her to pass out but before he could take her again Kabuto busted in

"Orochimaru-sama the Godaime, Sandaime and Uchiha Fugaku as well as Inuzuka Tsume are here"

"Take Anko leave the rest"

"I don't think so"

"Emma long times no see Kabuto we are leaving we'll come for Anko another time"

And with that they disappeared

Konoha Hospital

This time when Anko came to she noticed that she was back in Konoha and she was in the hospital

"Oh my dear you're awake"

Turning she noticed that Mikoto was here and so was Itachi he had bandages around his eyes "Itachi"

"I'm glad you're okay Anko-chan"

"What happened to your eyes Tachi?"

"I used them to lead the two Hokages and my father and Tsume-sama to you"

"How is that possible?"

"Reserve summoning Emma the Sandaime's personal summon could use the technique to track you but they needed a sharingan user who was familiar with your chakra to direct him to you"

Her heart swelled with gratitude and love "you're always sacrificing so much for me even when I don't deserve it"

Mikoto sat beside her "what happened over there Hidama-chan?"

Tears swelled in her eyes as she heard Mikoto's nickname for her it was a reminder that she was part of a family this family and she nearly broke down in tears because she didn't deserve it causing Mikoto to hold her and try to calm her down "it was my fault Kaa-chan Orochimaru killed a little girl right in front of me and it was my fault"

"Oh sweetheart tell us what happened"

And so she did but at the back of her mind all she could see was Orochimaru's hand sticking out of that girl's chest and her inability to stop him or save her and after she finished she said "I will understand if you're angry or disappointed in me or if you even hate me after all if I didn't try to fight back she would still be alive I was reckless and stupid and I failed"

The hold Mikoto had on her tightened "oh my little firecracker that was not your fault I am so proud of you for standing up for them and trying your best"

"But I failed. I couldn't save anyone"

Itachi's voice cut in "One hundred and twenty"

"What?"

"Your kidnapping led us to a place that held one hundred and twenty people plus three pregnant women. You saved their lives Anko I am sorry about the one you couldn't save I truly am but she told you to never stop fighting that means you need to forgive yourself"

"Itachi you don't understand I don't know her name but every time I close my eyes and at the back of my mind right now all I can see is her dying face and my failure to do something about it"

"Uchiha Akira"

Turning to Mikoto she asked "what does that have to do with anything?"

Mikoto smiled at her "Fugaku recovered the little girl's body from Orochimaru's hideout so I told him to put it on stasis under the clan's name so how about we name her and give her a burial worthy of an Uchiha"

"What will that do?"

"We can give her the greatest honour we can give to the dead: meaning. We will bury her as an Uchiha a member of one the noble clans in Fire Country and we will always remember her as a hero because she inspires us to never stop fighting for what we believe in for the ones we love. Uchiha Akira will always be remembered as a hero who gave her life for the benefit of others, gone but never forgotten"

Suddenly the image she had of Akira changed she remembered the smile she had on her face as she told her to never stop fighting and for the first time since Akira died she felt like she was going to be okay yeah she was going to be okay

"Uchiha Akira I like that thank you Mom"

"Oh I love you so much my little firecracker nothing is ever going to change that I promise" after sharing one last hug together Mikoto got up "I need to go check on Fugaku don't worry I'll make sure that no one bothers you"

"Thanks mom"

After she left Itachi took her place on the bed causing Anko to remember his eyes "how bad is it?"

"Not as bad as it looks trust me just a day or two with this bandages on and then I am good to go"

"I'm sorry I always seem to be putting you in trouble"

"It is more than worth it, you are more than worth it"

Holding him they adjusted themselves so that Anko was sitting in between Itachi's laps with her head on his chest and their arms around each other "I was so scared Itachi"

"Me too if the Sandaime had not come up with the plan to save you I don't know if I would have been able to stay sane I am so glad that you are okay I don't know what I would do without you"

"Nor I you" raising her head she got a mischievous idea "I bet that you can't accurately kiss me right now"

Itachi simply smirked in that damn Uchiha manner I mean seriously his clan had the patent on deviously handsome smirks then kissed her square on the lips stunning her pulling back he said "you were saying"

Hitting him lightly on the chest she said "you're cocky you know that"

"Very but you love me for it"

"Watch it Uchiha or I will swipe that smirk straight out of your face you understand?"

Normally her sweet tone would have been enough to make him flinch but he had nearly lost her today so he was just happy to see her alive and back to her normal self

"Hmm and how pray tell do you plan on doing that?"

"Do you have any value for your hair or should I set it on fire and post pictures of your new haircut around the village"

That actually made Itachi flinch because he knew she could actually do it "Hai I will behave"

'_Yep still got it'_

"So what's next?" asked Itachi

"Well Mom did leave us here by ourselves so I am thinking you show just how good you are at kissing with bandages around your eyes"

Smirking Itachi bent down to kiss her again before he sensed something heading their way fast

"What is it Tachi-chan?"

"Looks like Kurenai found out what happened to you"

"Aw crap she is not going to be happy about this"

"Indeed good luck"

"Wait what"

"Well you girls need some alone time so I am out of here"

"Wait you can't just leave me here"

Itachi kissed her and then vanished three seconds later Kurenai busted through the room only to hear Anko scream "traitor"

"Itachi was here wasn't he?"

"Yep so Nai-chan what's up?"

The look that Kurenai sent her made her wish she could follow Itachi's idea of vanishing

"Do you have any idea how worried I was hmm? I was in the middle of a great book when a friend of mine in the ANBU ran in to tell me what happened to you then I ran like a crazy person to the Hokage tower only to find out that a rescue mission had already been put into place to save you and so I had to seat on my hands waiting for any kind of news and…"

If there was one thing that both impressed and terrified her about Kurenai is her ability to scold a person for hours on end the last time she saw it, it was because Itachi had been too low to take out an enemy because it was an old man only for the said elder to turn around and nearly stab him in the chest boy was Kurenai mad she almost pitied Itachi the lecture she gave him lasted three hours straight

"And you are not even listening to me!"

"Uh oh come on Nai-chan it's not like I planned on getting kidnapped today"

Kurenai sighed as she calmed down "I know Ko-chan I know I was just so worried about you"

"Well if you really want celebrate my return you can treat me to dango and we can call it even"

"Hmm well since it is you who worried me you will take me shopping and then we will go to the spa for a mud bath and then we can call it even"

Gaping Anko could not believe what her best friend was planning for her normally for a girl this was be a vacation but Anko was a tomboy and she hated mud baths I mean why would anyone willing put mud on their body and let it dry?

Shivering in fear and possibly disgust "please Nai-chan shopping is bad enough please no mud baths you know I hate that crap"

"It is cute that you think that you think you can get out of this now let's go shopping"

"Wait I can't leave the hospital you know I haven't been discharged yet"

"Nice try Ko-chan but I already have your discharge papers here all signed up see?"

"But Nai-chan I don't want to" whined Anko

Meanwhile in a room above them a young child was awakening with the world's worst hangover

"Hello there child what is your name?"

"Sora who are you?"

"My name is Inoichi and I am here to ask you a couple of questions"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Green Beast of Konoha.

One year later…

Three boys were standing in Training 7 waiting for their Sensei to arrive so that they could get this stupid test over and done with. A year had passed since Sora who they found out was a pseudo Kyuubi Jinchuriki attacked them making them realize that they needed to start training seriously not to mention they needed to improve their experience in the field thus leading to the headbands proudly sitting on their foreheads

Though they had not changed physically their have greatly improved with Chunin level taijutsu, kenjutsu and Jounin level ninjutsu; they also had specialities after seeing what a simple seal could do to his chakra Naruto had poured himself into studying fuinjutsu and he was now an expert at it thanks to his Uzumaki genes of course. Sasuke had gone down the genjutsu road while Sai had somehow turned his paintings into weapons by bringing them to life

Flashback eleven months ago

"Now Sai what I am about to show you are one of Konoha's secret Jutsu: it is based on calligraphy by breathing life into drawings."

"Wait, how is that possible?"

"Well the explanation is a long one but the short version is that it utilizes the individual's yin chakra to give form to ink"

"So it is like genjutsu?"

"No Yin chakra gives the ink life but the ink itself is enhanced with special properties that mimic Yang chakra perfectly so in order to use them in tandem the individual needs to have a talent for precision and speed when it comes to using ink and a high Yin capacity and control"

"And you are sure that that person is me?"

"Yes your talent in calligraphy and drawing for exceed anything I have ever seen especially for one so young"

After thinking about it some Sai decided to give it a try and although he did not get it right away he kept at it now he could summon small animals and birds with practiced ease

Flashback end

That was why they did not see the point of this Genin test I mean they knew that they were stronger than any Genin in the village so why did they have to prove that strength to anyone especially not to someone they had never met before. Their Sensei was a complete stranger to them, throw in the fact that he dressed weirdly and talked funny

"Dynamic Entry"

Speak of the weirdo seriously what kind of Jounin wore neon green jumpsuits and was as loud as hell?

"Morning Gai-Sensei"

"Yosh my Youthful students today we shall test the waters of your fountain of Youth! Are you prepared for this?"

"Is it too late to change who our sensei is?" asked a very freaked out Sai

"Tch I wish I already asked Baa-chan and she said that this is guy supposed to be really strong or something" said Sasuke

"Or something is more likely" said Naruto "anybody feeling like this is just another way that Baa-chan wants to screw with us?"

Gai all of a sudden appeared in their midst with anime tears running down his face "Yosh my youthful students are so filled with such youth it is inspires me"

"Get off psycho" said an irritated Sasuke unfortunately Gai did not hear him instead he bear-hugged them and somehow a sunset and a shore appeared behind them freaking the boys out even further

"What the hell is that ttebayo?"

Acting on instinct to get away from the freaky man and his abominable sunset they kicked Gai in the gut, hard forcing him to release them

After getting some space the boys decided that if their new Sensei was hospitalized then they would be free to choose another Sensei or better yet just stick to their grandmother. Rushing forward they drew their weapons and with speeds that no Genin should be capable of struck at the place where Gai…was?

"How youthful of you my students yes a spar is exactly the kind of warm-up we need now let us give it our very best as I will not shame you by holding back"

Getting into the Goken stance Gai got ready and he did not have to wait long before ducking to avoid an overhead strike from Sasuke; jumping so that he was flat on the air to avoid a sweeping kick from Naruto he then grabbed both boys and flung them into Sai who was about to descend with an axe-drop kick, all this happened within two seconds

"Damn he's fast" said Sasuke who was impressed heck they were all impressed

"Alright Busy-brows Sensei let's see just how good you are" speeding through hand signs Naruto called out "Wind Style: Wind Tornado"

Gai jumped left to avoid the technique that he knew was a distraction

"Earth Style: Death Spike"

Multiple spikes shot up from the ground keeping Gai on his toes and ready for their endgame and he didn't have to wait long the tornado and the spikes had driven him to the pond in the training ground

"Lightning Style: Lightning Bolt"

A bolt of lightning hit the water unfortunately Gai had already substituted himself with a log

"Damn how did he know?" asked Naruto after the boys had regrouped

"Guess he was made Jounin for a reason" said Sai

Sasuke however had a wide smirk on his face "I guess Baa-chan was right we don't have to hold back anymore thank Kami"

Gai on the other hand decided to it was time to go on the offensive causing Sasuke to activate his sharingan Naruto went ahead while Sai backed him up

"Earth Style: Quicksand" Forcing Gai to the air into Naruto's awaiting strike that should have cut into his gut if he had not blocked it with his nun chucks

WTF

Using Naruto's loss of concentration he attempted to spin and swing at Naruto's head fortunately Naruto's instincts kicked in and he teleported out of the way

"Yosh my students you are truly fast but I am sorry but this spar is…"

"Slayer" Gai had to stop talking to block a series of lightning fast strikes from Sasuke's sword then dropping low he struck at Sasuke's feet but he had to stop and jump a split second before Sai shot out of the ground

"Wind Style: Wind Blades" a quick Shushin saved Gai from getting skewered

Not letting up Sai brought out his scroll and with practiced ease sent a flock of birds at Gai blinding him for a spilt second allowing Sasuke the speed he needed to look Gai in the eyes trapping him long enough for this to happen

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough" hurtling Gai backwards Sai and Sasuke capitalized on the opportunity

"Earth Style: Earth Boulder" barely dodging the by jumping above Gai had to put up his nun chucks again to block a vicious slicer from Sasuke but couldn't miss the kick that hit his legs off balancing him allowing Sasuke to follow up with a spinning kick to the gut sending Gai to the ground

"Checkmate Sensei"

Confused Gai tried to get up only to notice that Naruto had used the kick to tag him with a resistance seal that should make it impossible for him to get up unfortunately the boys did not know what they had just unleashed

"First Gate: Open"

WTF again

The boys watched as Gai stood up and get back into his stance like nothing happened

"What the hell is this guy ttebayo?"

"Target practice" said Sasuke "Lightning Style: Rising Dragon"

Gai tore through the dragon with speeds that forced the boys to scatter on instincts just in time too. Knowing that play time was way over the boys deactivated their resistance seals and dashed through hand signs

"Wind Style: Tornado Drill"

"Lightning Style: Lightning Bullets"

"Earth Style: Crushing Boulders"

The techniques hit Gai dead-on who wasn't fast enough to get out of the way but once again this was far from over

"Second Gate: Open"

"Third Gate: Open"

"Guys keep him busy I have an idea for a seal that should slow him down"

"Dynamic Entry" Sai barely brought Force Edge up in time thankfully Sasuke was there to bail him out

"Dark Slayer" Yamato glowed blue with sparks of lightning bouncing off it and with twice the speed Sasuke struck but like before Gai was able to block him with his nun chucks once free Sai summoned a pack of wolves to attack Gai and give Sasuke some breathing room unfortunately Gai made quick work of them but the ink was liquid

"Lightning Style: Lightning Field"

Sai blazed through hand signs in hopes of at least restraining their Sensei "Earth Style: Hand of the Underworld" a hand shot up encasing Gai but before it could drag him into the earth the hand exploded

Expecting something like that Sasuke already had a contingency in place "Lightning Style: Lightning Dome" trapping and electrocuting Gai worked for two seconds before

"Fourth Gate: Open"

"Move" jumping out of the way for Naruto they saw him slam a piece of paper on the ground "Gravity Seal activate"

Regrouping they decided to take a much needed break "will that hold him?" asked Sai

"Yeah I modified it to make it feel like a giant elephant is sitting on him"

"Oh that's good. Well then I guess that is tha…"

"Fifth Gate: Open"

"Sixth Gate: Open"

"Seventh Gate: Open"

"Eighth Gate: Open"

Using the power of the gates Gai busted out of the gravity seal and with speeds that made him a blur to Sasuke's sharingan proceeded to send them flying into forest unconscious due to blows to the head

Three hours later…

"Ugh my head ttebayo"

"**Serves you right"**

'_How were we supposed to know that we got a freak for a Sensei?'_

"**Oh I don't know because he is a Jounin. Did it ever occur to you that the only reason he can be crazy and alive is because he is strong?"**

'_Sue me for not taking loud, green Jounin seriously'_

"**You're lucky he is a friendly otherwise you would be dead by now"**

'_Tell me something I don't know you damn fox like when you will stop talking and heal me? Oh my poor cranium'_

"**Hmm no I want you to suffer take this as a lesson in never underestimating your opponent"**

'_What?'_

"**You heard me brat oh look your brothers are waking up as well"**

'_Kyu don't you dare leave me like this ttebayo!'_

"Ow my head what happened?" asked Sai

"I know we should have crippled that guy when we had the chance ugh where is the damn doctor?"

"Now is that the kind of language I taught you to use?"

"Baa-chan my head hurts how the hell can anyone hit that hard?" asked Naruto

Kari simply smirked "well I did tell you that he was a strong Jounin he is after all Kakashi's rival"

"That freak is as strong as Kakashi?" asked an incredulous Sasuke

"Well you fought him didn't you?"

"We underestimated him because of his personality"

"Indeed Sai-kun you boys did although Gai was very impressed with you three I mean your taijutsu and kenjutsu has a long way to go but your ninjutsu really gave him a run for his money"

"Wait you want him to be our taijutsu instructor?" asked Sai

"Correct when it comes to taijutsu no one is better than Maito Gai trust me on that"

"Sold craziness aside that guy is fast"

"And fucking hard to put down ttebayo"

"Which reminds me what are gates?"

"Hmm well that is a question for your Sensei now get some rest you three passed his test so you are to report to training ground 7 at five am tomorrow morning"

"What! That's insane"

"Good luck" laughing Kari left them alone

"This is seriously fucked up ttebayo"

"Got it in one Naruto"

"Let's just rest tomorrow is going to be a long day" but despite their headaches and their anxieties about tomorrow the boys were excited to have such a strong Sensei because that meant that they had someone who could not only keep up with them but could train them to be stronger than him and that thought brought a smirk to their faces

Meanwhile

Hokage Tower

"Come in"

"Hokage-sama you sent for us?"

"Yes I did I have given this some thought and my advisors agree with me on this one"

"Your advisors agree with you on what exactly?"

"Anko quiet"

"But Nai-chan"

"Shush please continue Hokage-sama"

Kakashi eye-smiled "it has been decided that Uchiha Itachi, Yuhi Kurenai and Mitirashi Anko will be promoted to Jounin"

Anko squealed "are you serious?"

"Hai you have more than earned your promotions congratulations"

Itachi and Kurenai smiled while Anko being stuck her head out the Hokage's window and screamed "Hell yeah I am a Jounin bitches did you hear that I am a Jounin?!"

Kakashi simply rolled his eye at her while Kurenai grabbed her friend from the window and proceeded to her a lecture on humility while Itachi thanked the Hokage and excused his team

"Tachi-chan, come on these calls for some celebratory dango"

"Oi I am still talking to you, Anko get back here!"

"Keep up you old lady dango waits for no one"

"Did you just call me old?!"

Kakashi sweadropped 'this is the team that I just promoted Kami they are so childish' five seconds later he was reading the new Icha Paradise novel and giggling like a schoolgirl

"I see the team took their promotion well"

"Yo Sandaime-sama please tell me that we don't have training today"

"We don't have training today"

"So I can go back to my reading"

"Afraid not Kakashi-kun I have some information that you need to hear"

Kakashi groaned he never got to relax just one day without any duties was that too much to ask for? "Okay so what is it?"

"Danzo seems to be back on the scene"

Kakashi narrowed his eye and straightened up immediately "where?"

"That is part of the problem our spies caught him boldly entering Kumo territory two days ago"

"What would Danzo be doing in Kumo of all places?"

"I think you are missing the point my boy Kumo is not a place where you just walk in and out as you please more so when you are a Konoha Elder. So the question is what Danzo has to offer to Kumo that will give him that much access to the point where he is not afraid to be seen in public?"

"Wait you don't think that he is turning Kumo against us do you?"

"Kumo values strength above everything and whether we like it or not Danzo is strong and judging by how off balanced his departure left us; he is very resourceful. All this makes him an asset in Kumo but what worries me is the fact that Danzo will not give up anything without a damn good reason so what possible reason could he have for giving all he had to Kumo"

"Trying to find that out will take more resources than we can manage at the moment Konoha is just about to clear all her debts so that we can start putting actual money in the treasury we need to stay focused on what we can control and as cold as this sounds Kumo is not our problem and there is no way I can warn the Raikage about Danzo without telling hum exactly how I came to know that Danzo is working for him"

"I don't like it Kakashi I don't like it one bit we could be dooming an entire nation to hell you know very well what Danzo almost did to Konoha the thought that he can do the same to Kumo and we can't help leaves a bad taste in my mouth"

"ANBU please tell Fugaku and Tsume that I need them in my office immediately"

"And that is not all. Jiraya contacted me last night that there is a new organisation being formed and it is apparently made up of high level S class missing Nin their mission at this point is unknown"

"I don't know what is worse; the fact that a group of deadly missing Nin are working together or that whoever is in charge is probably SS class? And we have no such people in the Bingo book"

"He told me that Orochimaru is a part of this group"

Kakashi gaped then groaned "Of course he is why wouldn't he be? Does this job ever get easier?"

Knock. Knock

"Come in"

"Hokage-sama Sandaime-sama"

"Hello Fugaku-sama Tsume-sama please sit down we have trouble"

Kakashi then proceeded to inform them of what was going on, "now we need a plan to deal with this mystery organisation and Danzo"

"I think that the Sandaime is right" said Tsume "we can't leave Kumo in the dark about the kind of danger Danzo poses to them what they then do with the information is their business"

"Okay so I will send a letter to the Raikage explaining what we know about Danzo and hopefully he will listen or at least take caution when dealing with him"

"I think we should also just observe the new group I mean aside from Orochimaru we know next to nothing about them so we watch and wait" said Fugaku

"This is could be risky both Orochimaru and Danzo want to see Konoha destroyed we can't simply wait on our hands for them to make the first move. My reluctance to handle them before is what created this mess we are in now and I promised myself that I would not make that mistake again"

"Well there is something that we can do it is an idea that I have been toying with for some time now" said Kakashi "What if we put together a team of our own specially trained to deal with these threats. They will comprise of the Village's best and brightest Shinobi and Kunoichi"

"I thought that is why we have the ANBU division"

"Yes but the ANBU is a black Ops unit it specializes in assignation and espionage while it has some strong fighters most of them are better in the shadows we need a team that is strong and can fight both in the shadows and in broad daylight as well"

"You mean like the Twelve Guardians?" asked Hiruzen

"Hai something like that"

"That sounds like a long term plan"

"Exactly Orochimaru and Danzo are waiting as well and rushing into preparing for them is not going to end well for us. The best thing that we can do at this point is to focus on what we can control until we get more information on our enemies we focus on increasing our economy and our overall skill level. Those of us who know what is going on will increase our training and experience but aside from that nothing changes"

"What about the team you were talking about?"

"Well I have a few prospects and when I am sure that they are what we need to defend our village we will put the team together"

"So all we can do now is; wait?" asked Hiruzen

"I know you don't like it Sandaime-sama but this is the best we can do at this point"

Hiruzen closed his eyes in thought _'I guess he is right I just hope this works out in the end'_

"Not to sound pushy but there is another matter that I think we should talk about" said Fugaku

"Yes?"

"The Konoha Police Department"

"What about it?"

Fugaku took a deep breath and they allowed him "I am requesting to have the Police Force disbanded"

The shock that went through the room was palpable Hiruzen restored to actually pinching herself just to make sure that this was real and not a dream or genjutsu

"I'm sorry Fugaku can you repeat that?"

If the situation was not so serious Fugaku would have been annoyed but he understood their disbelief his wife had asked him the same question when he told her about it and the clan council were absolutely stunned but he was sure that this was the way to go from now and hopefully he could get them to see things his way

"Let me explain" the attention they gave him was comically full "for years my clan has been part of a police department whose job was to maintain order and peace inside the village but I have really looked at the job description and all we did is made everybody lazy, in reality the Police is not necessary. The only thing that the force has done for the clan over the years is increase our ego and isolate the clan from the village and its people. So it is time for a change"

"I don't know what is more surprising what you are saying or the fact that you are the one saying it" remarked a stunned Kakashi

Fugaku simply sighed "I know but if there is one thing that these past few years has taught me is that we as a clan need to be more involved in our village"

"All well and good but then what would the Uchiha clan be responsible for?" asked the Sandaime

"Nothing we will do missions like any other citizen of the village"

"Missions" said Tsume

"Missions: that is what we need to concern ourselves with"

"Fugaku the Uchiha clan is not just a noble clan in Fire country it is a founding clan. Are you absolutely sure this is what you want?"

"I want my clan to be more involved in the village but the Police Force is the way of that. I however will take any responsibility the village offers as long as it falls in line with what I want"

Kakashi looked at Hiruzen "any ideas?"

"None whatsoever I did not see this one coming"

"Well I have something but it is theoretical at best"

"I am all ears Hokage-sama"

"The training of the Chunin and Jounin in the village: it is a program that I want to make sure that our Chunin and Jounin are trained properly and are led in a way that is best for the village. I hoped to hand it over to the Nara, Inuzuka and Hyuuga clans but now that I think about it the Uchiha clan can also flow with this. The Nara clan were meant to be in charge of strategy and planning, the Hyuuga will focus on manner and etiquette and the Inuzuka in charge of tracking the Uchiha clan will handle the part that I wanted to leave to the Hokage or Sannin; battle experience."

"That is quite the plan Kakashi-kun and I think it is a very good idea"

"I agree and I appreciate the honour Hokage-sama"

"I as well" said Fugaku

"Very well then let's draw a draft we can present it to the council tomorrow"

Back with Naruto

The boys had just discharged themselves and they were heading home to rest when Naruto had a thought "hey guys I can't believe I forgot about my other goal"

"What other goal dobe?"

A devious smile framed Naruto's face and his blue eyes practically screamed trouble "my goal of beating my mother's pranking record"

Sai and Sasuke shared a look "dobe you are a Genin now you can't go around pulling pranks on people"

"Not to mention the fact that Baa-chan will have your head and ours for not stopping you"

"That is if they can prove it is me"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in question "Baa-chan is a legend and even if you cover your tracks properly she will still know it is you"

Sai however knew Naruto "you have a plan for that don't you?"

"Hehehehehe oh yes I do"

"You are going to make me regret not being able to convince you otherwise aren't you?"

"You should know better by now Teme"

"And you have a plan for a prank right now I presume"

"You presume correctly Sai"

The excitement Naruto exuding was contagious and the thought of causing trouble increased it. Sasuke smirked "fine let us hear it"

And thus Operation Prank King was born

Later that night

Itachi was sitting by the river besides his clan compound; this was where his father had taught him his first technique, the Grand Fireball. Looking back it seemed so far away considering everything that has happened since then.

'Kami if someone had told me that I would be happy about making Jounin and have a girlfriend I would have checked for substance abuse' but it was not just the promotion and Anko that brought him here watching Sasuke graduate from the Academy a couple days ago had left him both proud and concerned and when he shared it with Kari she assured him that the boys will be fine but considering how trouble always seemed to find Sasuke and his brothers he wasn't so sure

He was so deep in thought that he did not notice someone was behind him until "Feeling blue?"

Itachi immediately jumped up and into a stance with speeds that would make Gai dizzy activating his sharingan he took note of the stranger who had still not moved a muscle. He noticed that his was wearing a black cloak but the surprise was the orange mask with a hole where his right eye should be

"You know I always loved this river"

"Who are you?"

"Hmm me oh I am nobody just a friend if you will have me. I must say I am very impressed with what you have done with yourself so far"

That told Itachi two things this guy was interested in him but he did not anyone to know who he is "what do you want?"

"To help you be better than you already are"

"And how pray tell do you plan on doing that?"

"Well you will just have to wait and see. In the meantime keep it up"

Just as Itachi was about to reply the eye hole created a vortex that swallowed the strangers' body but before he disappeared completely Itachi could have sworn he saw a sharingan but that was not possible, right?

'I have to tell father about this, if there is a rogue Uchiha out there with that level of control over his sharingan then they needed to find him and fast'

Uchiha clan household

Fugaku had just finished hearing what his son had discovered and to say it worried him would be the understatement of the century especially if this masked man was who he thought he was

"Dad"

"Hmm yes I heard you Itachi"

Itachi narrowed his eyes at his father's reaction "You know something"

Fugaku closed his eyes in thought considering whether he should or should not tell Itachi what he knew

"Dad if you know something then I need to know what it is, this guy came looking for me and something tells me that he will be back so please"

*sigh* "Very well a couple years ago the Sandaime called for a meeting in the Hokage's office when I arrived I only saw him there. He said that he needed to find a way to tell me something without drawing attention to him and that it will be up to me who I tell"

"Okay so what did he tell you?"

"He said that the Kyuubi showing up out of nowhere was a lie apparently the Kyuubi had been in another Jinchuriki, a female who was pregnant at the time and from what they know a Jinchuriki seal weakens during childbirth so when she was due the Yondaime, the Third's wife and a few of their trusted Shinobi took her to a secure location outside the village. After the delivery was successful a masked man appeared and killed the Third's wife and captured the Jinchuriki host while the Yondaime was distracted and unleashed the Kyuubi. The kicker there is when the Yondaime came back after fighting this stranger he reported that he claimed he was Uchiha Madara. This was why the Sandaime was reluctant to trust the clan because only a handful of people knew where the delivery was to take place"

"But I thought that Madara died years ago. How is he alive now?"

"I don't think he is, I think that someone with a powerful sharingan eye is impersonating him probably trying to ride on the reputation that Madara built for himself"

"So the question is: to what end? And what does he want with me?"

"Both very good questions but I don't know but the way I see it you have to be careful from now on. The ability that you saw him use is a space-time ninjutsu possible only with the use of the Eternal Mangekeyou sharingan and that alone is worrisome"

"So what do we do?"

"Well first things first we need to inform the Hokage of what is going on, the next thing that we need to do is warn your mother and Sasuke along with Anko and if possible Kurenai so that in case this guy tries something against them they will know immediately not to underestimate him"

"He is good dad I didn't sense him sneak up on me and even when I stood in front of him his chakra kept flickering in and out of my senses"

"Don't worry kiddo we will handle this the best way we can: together"

"Okay thanks dad"

"Go on and get some rest something tells me that you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow"

"Yeah tell me about it"

"Fugaku, oh Itachi you are back"

"Hai Mum sorry if I woke you"

"It's okay is everything alright?"

"I will tell you Itachi needs his rest"

"Oh okay then, good night dear"

"Night"

Next day

4am

The boys were happily sleeping unaware of the danger that just walked in with a devious smirk that promised trouble

"Oh this will be good" Kari had decided to pay her sons back for the prank that they played on her last night apparently Naruto decided to start his goal at home and while his brothers knew that their grandmother would kill them they did it anyway so they replaced her powder with itching powder luckily she noticed it in time and changed it but they had ruined her powder and so she wanted payback: petty much?

After she was done she screamed "**WAKE UP!"**

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"What the hell ttebayo? Baa-chan, it is 4 in the morning damn it"

"And you have to be at the training grounds in one hour so up you go I will go get breakfast ready"

"Ugh sometimes I wish I was back in the clan compound and away from her craziness"

"You said brother"

"Oh man and I was having an awesome dream too, crazy old bat"

When Sai turned on the light he took one look at his brothers and fell on his ass laughing

"Why is Sai laughing at us?" asked Naruto

Sasuke being more aware noticed his face felt weird a quick look at the mirror confirmed his suspicions Kari had drawn chibi versions of themselves on the faces wearing bikinis and flashing the peace sign

"Dobe look in the mirror"

"What the fuck is the meaning of this?"

"Baa-chan must have done it while we were sleeping"

"Hahahaha oh my ribs"

"Oi asshole she drew on your face too"

Sai stopped laughing for a whole two seconds before he resumed laughing pissing Naruto off

"Tch I am going to see if this is permanent" said Sasuke

"Damn it Sai stop laughing already"

"I-I-I-I can't it is too funny"

"Tch bastard"

"I told you this would happen when we pranked her yesterday"

"Stupid Baa-chan"

"Dobe stop complaining it's annoying besides the paint can be washed off and we got training to do"

At breakfast Naruto couldn't stop glaring at both Kari and Sai who were happily smirking Sasuke on the other hand couldn't care less it was too early in the morning to be emotional. Unfortunately Naruto did not think so and the look on his face brought joy to both Kari and Sai and after breakfast Kari sent them on their way smirking

"I am so going to get her back for this"

"Oh come on Naruto it was a harmless prank"

"It is not fair the one we did on her didn't even work"

"Dobe we will talk about this later"

"Now we are talking about this now and Teme how are you not pissed?"

"Too troublesome"

Naruto's eye twitched so it is understandable that when they got to the training grounds and they saw Gai happily smiling he shot an explosive kunai at their Sensei. Gai of course so this as a good thing leaving Naruto to question the sanity of the people around him


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Konoha Central Park

_Dear diary,_

_I can't believe it: Sasuke-kun is gone, gone! I thought that when I heard that he was doing the graduation exams that it was just a test I didn't actually think he would pass. Curses now how are we going to get married? Stupid Sasuke-kun and his prodigious talent _

_Cha Sasuke-kun is so cool to have graduated at age nine though now I just have to graduate too then we could be on the same missions then he would notice me and we would get married and have tons of children_

_Now how do I graduate next year? _

'_**Shannaro all we have to do is kick Ryota-sensei's butt then he would be so impressed that we would graduate for sure'**_

'_Damn it Inner I am busy here besides that would never work'_

'_**Of course it will work Ryota-sensei is so old that it will be easy'**_

'_No it won't because he will expel me for attacking a superior then how will I meet Sasuke-kun?'_

'_**Oh'**_

'_Exactly now shut up I am trying to think here'_

'_**Well think fast time is wasting'**_

_Shannaro! Diary why do I have a split personality if she is of no use? _

"What are you doing?"

EEP!

"Ino don't do that"

Said blonde simply smirked "well if your forehead wasn't so big you would have noticed me earlier"

Sakura's eye twitched "Ino-bunta shut up"

"Who are you calling a pig billboard-brow?"

"Do you see any other walking broom sticks around here?"

"Why you"

"What are you going to deny it?"

"I am the beautiful side of slender you wish you had my figure bookworm"

"Why would I do that?"

Ino smirked slyly "You know why Sakura-chan"

Now Sakura was pissed the fact that Ino was the most popular girl in their class and every boy wanted to be friends with her was a fact that she could not dispute heck even when Sasuke was here he never noticed her but he knew Ino's name it was frustrating

"Ha what guy would want a walking skeleton?"

Now that did it Ino was an inch from attacking Sakura before they heard something

"Well, well, well hello little princess how are you doing?"

Turning both girls saw Ami and her group of friends surrounding the Hyuuga heiress, whose name they did not know-seriously that girl was shy to the bone-, but the fact that Ami was there was reason enough to head there

Sakura hated Ami because she used to bully her until Ino saved her; that day she swore that she would never let Ami get to her again and if she could help it she would make sure that nobody else had too. Ino hated Ami for a less noble reason, the girl liked to steal the spotlight wherever she went and that was something that Ino would never allow the was room for only one queen in this kingdom; her and no one else

"What's wrong Princess cat cut your mousey tongue?" Ami said with a vicious smirk which quickly turned to a scowl when she heard

"I am surprised you know what a cat is Ami-baka although I doubt you even know how to spell mousey"

"Tch Yamanaka Ino don't you have to go polish your nails or something?"

Ino placed a hand over her heart in fake shock "Ami you finally realized what a manicure is wow congratulations indeed. By the way my nails are perfect"

"Back off Ami and leave the Hyuuga girl alone"

Now Ami had three other girls with her who then joined her at her sides "Or what you will tell Sensei on me perhaps you would like me to rearrange that ugly face of yours. Remember how much fun that used to be girls?"

"Yeah she used to cry like a little baby"

Ino eyes narrowed no one messed with Sakura "the only face that needs rearranging here is yours Ami though ugly will always be ugly which way you turn it"

Ami growled then looking around she realized that they had attracted a crowd so she knew that she needed to assert herself as the boss or else, and that meant these two brats needed to be put in their place; permanently.

"Tough talk can you back it up little girls because we can"

Knowing that they were now in flight or fight territory Ino knew that she had two choices; back down now and save herself and Sakura because it was four against two or stand and fight with the possibility of failing quite badly.

One look at Sakura made her realize that her friend needed to face her demons now so she decided what the hell

Smirking with confidence she said "four against two that is not fair at all; for you anyway sure you don't want to call a few friends make it even"

Sakura was stunned yes she knew that if she backed down from Ami now she will lose not just her pride but her freedom from her but she did not expect Ino to stand with her

'_I guess underneath all the insults and arguments she is still my best-friend'_

"Ino's right Ami you don't stand a chance so just give up; or better yet don't"

Ami and her friends got into their stances and Ino deciding to copy one of the movies she had seen rolled up her sleeves and said in a proper Princess Tone of voice

"Ladies, shall we?"

Growling the girls attempted to attack only to fall down on the ground unconscious and the Hyuuga heiress standing behind them with her Byakugan active and her hand outstretched

Flashback few minutes ago

Hinata was not having a good day she was sad and happy at the same time. Sad because Naruto was gone and as such there was no one whom she could rely on to cheer her up reminding her again of how lonely she was but she was so proud of him for being able to graduate at age nine a feat that made her happy for him

But she missed his smiles and watching him and his brothers. Truth is she was so jealous of how close they were as friends despite how different they were in personality that was something that she always wanted but who would be friends with the shy and weak Hyuuga

Just as her heart was beginning to sink she heard Ami's comment; at first it was the shock of hearing someone talking to her that kept her quiet then it was the fear that she was about to be bullied so far no one had done that probably because they were scared of her last name but apparently Ami wasn't

"I am surprised you know what a cat is Ami-baka although I doubt you even know how to spell mousey"

Now she was really shocked she did not expect anyone to come to her rescue much less these two. I mean everyone knows who Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura are; they are the most beautiful, confident and talented girls in their class. So the fact that these girls were standing up for her gave her hope that maybe they could be friends and as the conversion went on it made her more convinced. I mean they were ready to fight for her. That was when she decided that she would do what Naruto always did: she would stand up for her friends no matter what. The fact that their backs were turned to her gave her the opportunity she needed so moving quickly she activated her Byakugan and locating the points needed she knocked them out

Flashback end

"Well that is what I call a knockout" said Ino after she got over her shock, Sakura on the other hand was still reeling

"Um ano I-I-I um I uh di-didn't um"

Ino smirked _'why am I always attracting shy girls first Sakura and now her oh well at least she won't challenge me for queen and having a three girl group might be fun especially since she is the Hyuuga heiress; free shopping here we come'_

"My name is Yamanaka Ino and this is my friend Haruno Sakura and you are?"

Hinata gulped "Hi-Hinata"

"Well nice to meet you Hinata how about we become friends"

The happy smile that Hinata on her face and in her eyes warmed Ino's heart, self-centred she may be but she loved putting smiles on people's faces "I will take that as a yes"

"How did you do that?"

"Finally came too forehead about time"

Sakura's eye twitched "Ino I wasn't talking to you I was talking to Hinata"

"Um I-I-I used taijutsu"

She said so quietly that if they had not been listening attentively they won't have heard it Ino of course could not help but point that out "Hinata you need to speak up we want to hear what you have to say"

"Gomen" the tone of her voice dropped like she was hurt or something now Ino was the heiress to the Yamanaka clan so psychology was her forte so she knew that Hinata needed someone who would love her and cherish just because she was brash did not mean she could not be gentle

"It is okay Hina-chan it is just that Sakura and I are your friends and we are very much interested in what you have to say, okay?"

"She is right Hina-chan we are friends now and that means that we look out for each other no matter what"

Hinata mumbled something that they didn't quite get

"Sorry Hina what was that?"

Taking a deep breathe Hinata said "do you promise?"

They immediately understood so they gave her a group hug and said "we promise"

The sincerity of their word and the gentle hug caused Hinata to start crying but unlike the other times that she cried she was among friends and she was crying happy tears

"There, there Hina we're here for you"

"We promise"

"Then I promise to be there for you too"

"Awesome so do you think we can go shopping sometime?"

"Ino"

"What?"

"This is a tender moment and you went shopping last week"

"Exactly last week my clothes need changing"

"No they don't besides at this rate you will run out of closet space"

"No I won't I will give my old clothes away, see I am a nice girl after all"

"Yeah nice girl indeed"

The argument caused Hinata to giggle "Um ano I don't mind shopping although I prefer flower pressing more"

Ino looked at her in a whole new light while Sakura smirked, if there was one thing that Ino loved to talk about more than fashion it was flowers and as she watched Hinata's eyes light up as they discussed she knew that today was not as bad as she thought because their circle was complete; she was the brains and restraint of the group, Ino was their Sun giving light and fun to everything as well as leading them and now Hinata was the gentle soul that kept them together as a group. Hmm kind of like Sasuke and his brothers

'_**That's it. Between us, Ino and Hinata we will graduate next year for sure then Sasuke would be so proud of us'**_

'_Hmm you are right brilliant idea Inner'_

'_**Yes I am a genius'**_

'_Hey genius you are a part of me so that means that I am the genius not you'_

'_**And yet I came up with the plan not you'**_

"Um Sakura-san is something wrong?"

"No why do you ask?"

"Your hand is twitching forehead"

"I am fine" _'stupid Inner'_

'_**You do realize that I am a part of you so if I am stupid then that means…'**_

Now Hinata was confused first her hand was twitching now her eye was doing the same thing turning to Ino she asked "Um Ino is this normal for her?"

"How the hell should I know what goes on inside her head?"

"Well she said she is fine so maybe she is just thinking"

Ino just shrugged she was used to Sakura spacing on her "might as well let her be so tell me what is your favourite flower?"

"Lavender"

"Hmm okay that's cool, bet you can't guess mine"

"Sunflower"

Ino's mouth dropped "how did you know that? Everyone always assumes I love roses"__

"Um I just, it is what come to my mind when I look at you"

"Huh impressive"

"Thanks"

"Oi guys we should get going I promised Miss Kaede that I would return her books today"

"Who's Miss Kaede?"

"The librarian"

In other world a certain group of people sneezed

Meanwhile with Naruto

Gai had finished testing their physical capacities to determine what kind of taijutsu style they should use or if they would have to create one from scratch so he engaged in a spar but he told the boys no ninjutsu or genjustu or fuinjutsu or kenjutsu allowed, only taijutsu the spar started four hours ago and the boys were exhausted and drained

"Kami I don't know what's worse this or Baa-chan's Hell week" said Naruto

"So how did we do Sensei?" asked Sai and for once Gai was serious

"All three of you have very solid foundations so you can learn any style right now but it is better you learn a style that suits you. Sai you are the most fluid, Sasuke is the fastest while Naruto is the most resilient. So when it comes to style Sai you would need to learn a style that is fluid and flexible, Sasuke because of your natural speed I think that you need a style that focus on speed and precision, and Naruto you need a style that focus on utilizing that incredible stamina of yours and your strength as well"

"Do you know any styles like that Sensei?"

"Indeed I do"

"Awesome what are they?"

Gai stroked his chin thinking of something "you boys will not be able to use the actual styles because they are specialized to fit a certain body type"

"Okay so we can use them as a foundation for a whole new style ttebayo"

"Yosh excellent idea Naruto"

'_Great he's back'_ thought Sasuke "what are the styles Gai-sensei?"

"Well they are Uzuken, Raiken, and Mizuken"

"Wait did you just say Uzuken?"

"Indeed I did Naruto-kun the Uzuken will be perfect for you as it focuses on taking as many hits as possible draining your opponent's energy while you wait for an opening then take him down hard."

"So in other words I will be a human punching bag, great"

Gai smiled at the sarcastic reply "Well the Uzuken like many other styles are just a base for people to build on, the Uzumaki clan was not very taijutsu oriented after all"

"Tch"

Sasuke smirked at Naruto's sulking mode "so human punching bag huh nice"

Naruto growled at him but thankfully Sai stopped them from attacking each other "so what about the other styles Gai-sensei?"

"Well the Raiken is predominantly a hit and run taijutsu style: it focuses on multiple light and fast hits with very quick reflexes to get in and out of the opponents guard but it has no solid defence whatsoever. The Mizuken on the other hand uses the opponent's strength and speed against them; with fluid movements, precise hits and feints it allows to you to dance around your opponent guard and slowly take him down."

"**I don't think I have to tell you that each of those styles are just plain suicidal"**

'_Tch I know but what choice do we have? I mean I think we can merge the styles together to form one badass taijutsu style but the styles are so different from one another that there is no way we can blend them'_

"**Ask the monkey first"**

'_You realize that he is not a monkey right?'_

"**Just ask him"**

"Gai-sensei is there any way that we can blend the styles together to form one style"

"Unfortunately no Naruto-kun each style focuses very heavily on a particular body type; hard, fast and flexible. So far we don't have any styles that can blend these three styles without reducing the effectiveness of one of them. For example my Goken focuses on hard and fast strikes but zero flexibility"

"What about the Jyuken?"

"The Hyuuga clan style uses fast and precise hits without reduced strength and almost zero flexibility"

'_Damn well Kyu any ideas?'_

"**One; my style"**

'_Wait you created a style and you did not tell me?'_

"**No because like the other three styles mine is just a support style not an actual one"**

'_Okay so what is it?'_

"**I did not name it brat but it focuses on deception making your opponent read moves or plays that you want him to read and when he is in a false sense of security you take him out"**

'_Hmm I wonder'_

"Hey Gai-sensei what if we added a style that focuses on deceiving your opponent into a false sense of security and then taking him out"

Gai thought about it for a minute then he said "yes I do believe that with enough practice and study we can definitely do that without reducing any of the benefits of the other three styles but no style like that has been documented Naruto"

"I have a friend who uses a style like that he calls it Lu Kang" [I know bad name sue me]

"Hmm well if this friend of yours is willing to teach it to you then yes we can definitely blend the styles together youthfully"

Sasuke and Sai already knew who the 'friend' was and sent a grateful look to Naruto who understood

'_Thanks Kyu'_

"**Hn"**

"Now if we are making a whole new style" said an excited Naruto "it is going to need a name"

"Indeed and since you three will be using and creating the style you get to name it I made the Goken style"

The boys started to think but Naruto had an excellent idea "Caged Dragon"

"YOSH MY YOUTHFUL STUDENTS ARE GOING TO CREATE THEIR OWN STYLE."

Grabbing them in a bear-hug he started crying anime tears "I AM SO PROUD OF YOUR YOUTHFULNESS" cue sunset followed by Gai received three hard kicks to his gut

Hokage Tower

Knock. Knock.

"Come in"

"Yo Kakashi"

"Hey Asuma, what's up?"

"Nothing much I just came to tell you that I won't be available for a while"

Raising an eyebrow Kakashi mentally ran through all the reasons why Asuma would say that but came up with nothing "Is something wrong?"

Lighting a cig Asuma inhaled before saying "I got a position on the Twelve Guardians so I need to report to the Capital in two days"

Now that was something, after what happened with Danzo and Koharu the civilians lost their representatives on the village council and among the Hokage's advisors and according to the law they had to wait till the next hand-over before they could elect new ones so the relationship between Konoha and the Daimyo had become strained so to hear that Asuma had been given a position on the Daimyos' bodyguard unit was definitely something

"Why did they pick you?"

"Think about it"

Eyes widening Kakashi realized what the Daimyo was planning "he wants you to be on his side therefore he can have access to your influence in the village and since you are the Sandaime's son and heir to the Sarutobi clan then you have a ton of influence indeed"

"Exactly it is troublesome"

"Not if we need you here"

"Now how are you going to play that?"

"Simple we have plans being drawn up for an elite force under the Hokage"

"ANBU"

"No not ANBU a unit that does not operate in the shadows but can do so if necessary"

"Council approved"

"Not yet but it has been approved by the Elders don't worry we got you covered"

"I have a better idea how about I gain influence in the Daimyo's court for the betterment of the village"

"Asuma that level of espionage is difficult at best"

Asuma simply shrugged "it will be worth it especially with elections next year"

"Yeah the civilians are making quite the fuss about that"

"Not just the civilians the clans are eager to see your next appointments for Elder"

Kakashi sighed "troublesome" they both laughed

"Well I should get going"

"Guess I can't get you to change your mind and stay huh"

"Got it in one take care of the village okay"

"I promise" and with that he left

"Damn first Danzo is back, then a mysterious Uchiha who is responsible for the Kyuubi attack comes looking for Itachi and now Asuma is off to the Capital. Something tells we are about to have trouble on our hands. We need that response team now but who will be on it?"

Deciding to think about it later Kakashi went back to his day job; paperwork

Back with Sakura

Konoha Library

"I am sorry could you repeat that forehead"

"I said that we need to graduate next year Ino"

"Why?" asked Hinata

"Just because"

Ino raised an eyebrow in question "you want us to start training ourselves into the ground just because, have you lost your mind?"

Sakura growled low thankfully Hinata stop the fight in its tracks

"Ano I don't mind graduating sooner"

"Are you both drunk? We are nine year old girls who should be having fun with our childhood not going on strenuous missions"

"Ino Sasuke and his brothers graduated at age nine"

"They are prodigies Sakura we are not. I have no problem with training but do you really think we are ready to defend ourselves out in the real world? Or have you forgotten what happens to captured Kunoichi?"

The mood changed. Sakura knew that her reasons for wanting to graduate where stupid and childish and Ino was right she did not want to be raped or worse killed but how else was she going to meet Sasuke-kun

Hinata on the other hand was remembering something Naruto had said in class one day "if we don't fight, who will?"

"What?"

"It is something Naruto-kun said one day I didn't understand it then but now that I think about it if we don't fight who will?"

"Hinata there are tons of shinobi and Kunoichi out there" said Ino

"Who are getting killed or worse?"

"What are you saying Hinata?" asked Sakura

"That we have a responsibility to our village to fight for it and if we give up whom do we wish to place our burdens on?"

"But we are not strong enough"

"Ino you and Sakura stood up against unfair odds for what you believed in and we won together. Naruto, Sasuke and Sai may be prodigies but they also believe in themselves and they are willing to give their very best for the sake of those that they care about. We need to follow their example and lead besides Kunoichi are not really popular for being powerful the only powerful female we have in the village right now is Senju Tsunade"

Sakura smirked "if we don't fight, who will?"

Ino shook her head but she smiled "we will"

Hinata beamed _'I promise I will make you proud Kaa-chan, please watch over me'_

In heaven a blue haired woman smiled "always Hinata-chan always"

Sakura then asked "So how do we go about this?"

Ino thought about it and realized "we need a strong and smart sensei to train us I heard that Naruto and his brothers were trained by their grandmother"

"Well my family is all civilian I am the first shinobi in my family and Ino no offence but your parents are too specialized to train us same goes for Hinata"

"Okay Forehead got any ideas?"

"Well I do know of this really strong Kunoichi they call her the Ice Queen of Konoha"

"I-I-I-Ice queen"

"Don't worry Hina I am sure she is not that scary I think she frequents that Dango store on Fourth we could go there and ask her to train us the worst thing that she can say is no"

"Hmm think she is an actual queen?"

"No she can't be an actual queen"

Twenty minutes later the girls found the store and then they went in, meeting with the store owner Ino asked him if he has seen the Ice Queen recently

"Ice Queen? Oh you mean Kurenai yeah she is over there at the corner booth"

Now the girls had different assumptions on what she would look like but they were not prepared for the beauty that they saw; wavy, ebony hair framing dark crimson eyes and flowing down her back with a killer outfit and a book in her hand. Kurenai Yuhi exuded confidence and royalty in spades instantly the girls became fans especially Ino

Looking up from her book Kurenai noticed three nine year olds staring at her with wide star-struck eyes so putting on an angelic smile she said "hello"

All breath escaped them Ino asked "how do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Make saying hello so perfectly royal"

Realizing that apparently she had fangirls the smile turned to a smirk _'and Anko said that I wasn't cool'_

"Secret so my name is Yuhi Kurenai would you girls like to have a seat?"

"Hai" they chorused

"So tell me is there something I can help you with?"

They looked at Ino who sighed "we would like you to train us Kurenai-sempai"

Now she was definitely not expecting that "why do you want to train?"

"Because we want to show the village and the world that Kunoichi kick butt"

"Ino language"

"What that is what we want"

"Manners are important too. Forgive my friend Kurenai-sempai we want to be able to defend the ones we love"

"And make them proud the best way we can" said Hinata who was surprisingly comfortable around the red-eyed beauty

Kurenai thought about it she always wanted to be a Sensei and these three looked like they had potential plus they reminded her of her own team "What are your names?"

"Oh sorry we did not introduce ourselves, my name is Haruno Sakura and these are my friends"

"Yamanaka Ino pleasure to meet you"

"Hyuuga Hinata" Kurenai could not help but smile at how much quiet Hinata reminded her of Itachi, Ino was so much like Anko and Sakura was like her

Making up her mind she said "okay I will train you"

"Yes we are going to kick some serious butt now for sure"

"Language"

"Bite me, forehead"

"Ano please don't fight"

Yep just her team indeed


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Congratulations Team Seven on successfully completing 12 D-rank missions in two weeks. I am so proud of you" said Kakashi with a large smirk on his face; he knew that the ten year olds hated doing D-rank missions but he got a kick out of the expressions on their faces whenever he congratulated on a job well done. Evidence of this was in the twitching faces they had on but of course it was double the annoyance because of who their Sensei is

Gai started shedding anime tears "Yosh thank you Hokage-sama, I promise my students and I will complete twelve more by the end of the week or else we will run one hundred laps around the village blind-folded"

"The village celebrates your enthusiasm; your flames of youth are very well appreciated"

Gai was so happy that he grabbed his three students, who by now were planning their cover story for assassinating the Godaime Hokage, and a sunset alongside waves crashing against a shore appeared behind them "You hear that my most youthful students; our flames of youth is being appreciated we must celebrate this by climbing the Hokage Mountain with our hands along with a stone tied to our waist: FOR THE FLAMES OF YOUTH!"

And with that said Gai took off with his students leaving Kakashi on the floor howling in the laughter at the vengeful looks on the of the Sozen trio. Three minutes later the Sandaime walked in with a smile on his face

"I can see that you are having fun"

Kakashi had just sat back on the chair but he was still chuckling "Oh you have no idea"

"You do know that they will get revenge on you for this, right?"

"Now what are three ten year olds going to do to me?"

"These are the same ten year olds who are trained by Gai, adopted by Kari and comprise of a younger Kushina and Mikoto as well as a child who can turn ink paint into a deadly weapon"

"Yeah so what, I mean they wouldn't dare plan an attack on the Godaime Hokage"

Hiruzen gave Kakashi a look that screamed 'have you met them?'

"They wouldn't"

"Okay don't say I didn't warn you"

"So what brings you here?"

"I just spoke with Kurenai and she informed me of three girls who are eager to follow in the Sozen trio's footsteps"

"Every kid is trying to follow in their footsteps but so far nobody actually has the drive or skill to do so"

"These ones do; the Yamanaka and Hyuuga heiresses and a civilian girl with the mental prowess to compete with a Nara"

"That is not something you hear everyday"

"No it is not and you know how thorough Kurenai can be she vetted them and apparently these girls have the potential"

"I would love to know how they met, or how Kurenai found them I did not know she was interested in teaching"

"Well the kids met in the academy and when they made the decision to train harder in order to be better they went through a Sensei check-list and Kurenai made the cut"

"Hmm resourceful, but why did she tell you about it?"

"Like I said Kurenai is thorough, apparently a newly-minted Jounin is not allowed to take on students in the academy unless through apprenticeship and considering who two of the girl's parents are…"

"She wants me and you to give her the go-ahead so that that then gives her the leverage she needs to convince the Hyuuga and the overly-protective Inoichi as well as two civilian parents that she is competent enough to train their kids"

"Exactly, convincing Hiashi will be easy and with a few compliments and a higher social standing the civilian parents will give the go-ahead but Inoichi…"

"Yeah he will not so easily be convinced that apprenticing his princess to a Jounin will be wise. If he had his way she won't even be going to the academy at all"

"Precisely so what are you going to do about it?"

"Wait what do you mean me? She came to you with this"

"True but as Hokage you are the only one with the authority to do anything on this, so again what is your play with Inoichi?"

"Just Inoichi what about the rest"

"Oh I already took care about that, they already agreed"

"So the training of three female friends under Kurenai, teammate of Anko and Itachi rest on my ability to convince an over-protective father with mind destructive abilities that this is a good idea"

"Hmm perceptive as always Hokage-sama"

"Tch fine ANBU please Inoichi here"

Five minutes later there was a knock on the door

"Come in"

"You wanted to see me Hokage-sama"

"Hai Yamanaka-sama I will be straight with you Kurenai has asked for permission to train your daughter alongside her two friends"

Inoichi's hand twitched once before he took a deep breath "I am aware Hokage-sama she has my permission"

Kakashi and Hiruzen shared a puzzled look before Hiruzen said "your wife threatened you didn't she?"

"I would rather not talk about it"

'_And this is one of the reasons I decided to stay away from women but it does makes my job easier, thankfully'_

"Thank you Inoichi I promise Kurenai is one of our best Jounin"

"Thank you Sandaime-sama I trust Ino's shinobi career will not start too soon"

"That depends on whether or not she earns her spot but she will be given as much preparation as possible"

Inoichi looked like he was about to have a mental breakdown "If that is all Hokage-sama"

"Hai thank you for your time"

"Well that went well"

"Boy I'm glad I am not married"

"I admit being married does have its unfortunate side-effects but it has its pecks too"

"Name one"

"The look on the face of the one you love when you introduce her as your wife"

Kakashi blinked "okay I did not expect you to say that"

"Well I am off I need to tell Kurenai the news"

"Cool because she owes me one"

"Whatever you say Kashi-kun"

Meanwhile in Ame

"It is time Konan Akatsuki has complete control over Rain and the Mizukage"

"So we need to start recruiting members now"

"Not quite yet any members that we have need to be strong and loyal to the cause and as such it is time to end the snake"

"Should I tell Kisame and Sasori to take him out?"

"No apart from you those two are the only members that I trust to not betray me; unlike Zetsu and his master besides I need them to recruit the Taki Nin Kakuzu"

"So what are your orders?"

"Orochimaru has a grudge against Konoha and Konoha houses a young Jinchuriki and they have been growing stronger by the day we will kill two birds with one stone"

"What do you mean?"

"In three months' time the Chunin Exams will be held in Konoha that will give Orochimaru the perfect time to strike and we can use the confusion to take the Kyuubi jinchuriki for ourselves"

"But Orochimaru does not have the manpower to strike down Konoha; that is why Kumo will help him Danzo is already making plans to strike them using Kumo's resources"

"It is laughable that Danzo is using Shisui's Sharingan to manipulate the Yondaime Raikage and no one has any idea"

"Their foolishness will work in our favour; go and make sure it happens"

"Hai Pain-sama"

'_Soon you will be mine Kyuubi and with you alongside your brethren I will ensure peace is restored to the world'_

In the shadows a plant-like creature smiled devilishly _'plan all you want child I will ensure that Mother is reborn'_

**Sorry for the short chapter I need some fresh ideas so if anyone has any suggestions, opinions let me know. Thanks for your support.**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Again"

Clang!

"Again"

Clang!

"Sasuke keep your feet sturdy, yes you are fast but your speed is useless if you opponent can trip you. Naruto how many times will I tell you to relax your body? Being unpredictable is good but so is flow and finesse something you severely lack" asserted Kari

"Hai Kari-sensei"

"Good now do it again"

Clang!

Kari sighed _'sometimes I forget that they are ten year olds not master swordsmen seriously if they don't know how to follow a simple kata. Sure they are masters when it comes to improvising but the true test of a master is being able to improvise after mastering the katas to a fault. Well at least Sai is better at the katas if he would only stop placing his Bo staff vertically across his spine. I need a break'_

"Take a break everyone I will be right back"

"Baa-chan is getting frustrated ttebayo"

"Gee what makes you say that?"

"Shut it teme"

"Guys fighting won't help we need to master these moves"

"I don't see how I place my feet is a move Sai, seriously when it comes to swords the only person who can actually keep up with me is Itachi and he is _Itachi_. So what if our katas aren't perfect it is not like there is anyone who can match me and if there is then I just need to get faster not sturdier"

"So you think that Baa-chan is stupid for teaching you these moves? I knew you were an ass teme but I didn't think you were stupid too. Since when has anything Baa-chan taught us not been useful?"

"I am the fastest Genin in history I don't need to centre my feet I need to lighten it"

"Sasuke Naruto's right we need to do what Baa-chan wants"

"Yeah of course you would say that you are her favourite, always doing what she wants"

"What the fuck has gotten into you teme, have you started using?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth "What would you know? Just because you happen to have the Kyuubi inside you does not make you special"

Naruto eye twitched "who the hell cares about being special pink-eye?"

"The sharingan is the greatest bloodline ever it is the legacy of the Uchiha clan, what is your clan's legacy Naruto?"

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's shirt and his eyes turned red "say that again Uchiha Sasuke I dare you"

Sai quickly separated them "what has gotten into you two?"

Naruto in anger shouted at him "stay the fuck out of it Sai"

"Sure as soon as you two stop being absolute fools"

Sasuke's sharingan sprung to life due to Sasuke's temper "Get out of my way before I strike you down Sai, we all know that Naruto is useless in a fight but you are weaker than him so what does that make you?"

BAM!

Sasuke skidded back from the blow he received from a very pissed off Naruto "Tch you call that a punch dead-last?"

Speeding forward Sasuke double decked Naruto sending him sprawling backwards "that is a punch"

"Sasuke have you gone mad?!" exclaimed Sai but before he could say anything else he heard Naruto releasing Arashi from its sheath and Sasuke did the same with Yamato

Clang!

Minutes before it was a sparring match/training session but now judging from the KI his brothers were leaking this was no spar '_I have to stop them before they kill each other'_

But before he could he saw Sasuke charge Naruto and the technique he was entering if struck would at least cripple Naruto and he knew, they both did, that Naruto was not flexible enough to dodge that

"Naruto watch out!"

Clang!

"Does someone want to explain to me exactly what the fuck is going on here?"

Kari had used a kunai to block Sasuke's strike and her other hand held Naruto's sword in place

'_Thank Kami'_

Sasuke jumped back sheathed his sword and walked away but just before he left he turned his head to Naruto with his Sharingan active and said "Next time you draw your blade on me dead-last better be prepared to kill me or else I will kill you and no one will get in my way again" then he left

"What happened here?" asked a very confused Kari

"I don't know Baa-chan. I am going for a walk"

"I think I can explain Baa-chan"

"Sai please"

"This is actually an accumulation of emotions in both of them"

"I haven't noticed anything"

"That is because they mask it whenever you are around. But after we got our headbands Sasuke started to get annoyed with Naruto and whenever he brought it to you, you brushed it off. That is when annoyance became dislike and jealously after that he started being meaner to Naruto and in typical Naruto fashion he got pissed and they ended up fighting and when you stepped in, Sasuke felt that you would punish Naruto but you instead punished them both. It was at that point that dislike became hatred and it is just coming out now"

"Wait all this happened in two weeks?"

"Hai I think the emotion has been building up inside Sasuke for a while now and it seems like it finally came out Sasuke found it really easy to blame it on Naruto and Naruto's dismissal behaviour in Sasuke's mind just made it fester"

Kari could feel a migraine coming "I thought we had gone past this"

The comment got Sai's attention "what do you mean Baa-chan?"

Kari sighed "you might as well know. All Uchiha are born with a slightly higher yang chakra than everyone else but Sasuke's yang chakra is stronger than any of his clansmen. Just before I sent you guys to the academy I had a sensor check for my curiosity sake and he told me that Sasuke's yang chakra is about as strong as Uchiha Madara"

"Yin and Yang; Good and Evil"

"Hai on the flip side Naruto's Yin chakra is about as strong as the First Hokage"

"And the way history described those two" Sai did not need to finish the sentence they both knew what was coming. If something was not done soon then history will repeat it here and now before their eyes and considering the skill that Sasuke and Naruto had the potential for disaster was unspeakable

Meanwhile in Kumo

Kirabi is known as many things: the eight tails Jinchuriki, a perfect Jinchuriki, swords master, rapper, brother of the Yondaime Raikage but it was the last thing that he was engaging in now a skill very few people knew he possessed; observant.

He knew that ever seen Shimura Danzo came to Kumo his brother has been acting different. Yes his attitude remained the same and so did the way he treated people but something was very wrong

'_Big bro has been messed with yo. Looks like I have to beam him back to earth like a lightning beam oh yeah'_

"**Why must you rap so much, Bee?"**

'_Eight-o needs to chill yo I got to move on to my next flow, yeah. Hmm that was a good line.'_

"**Ugh why do I even bother? Do you have a plan for how you're going to help your brother?"**

'_Definitely I gotta take out Danzo swiftly'_

"**How are you going to do that?"**

'_I will take my team and cream out the exams then just before Danzo strikes I will lariat him'_

"**What makes you so sure that that will work?"**

'_Because I fly like a butterfly and I sting like a bee I am Kirabi fool, ya fool oh yeah'_

'_**Kami help him well I guess we just have to wait and see'**_

Danzo was unaware of the eyes watching him as he made his way to the Raikage's office to inform him of their new ally: Orochimaru. The snake actually believed he had him on the ropes but he was just another solider he will use to raze Konoha to the ground.

A sick smile broke on his face _'Konoha will have no idea what is coming to them at best we destroy them then with two villages weak I will bend them to my rule and if all fails then I will see to it that I kill Konoha's new Hokage and his stupid advisors then I will rule Konoha with an iron fist'_

Back in Konoha

Pausing in his paperwork Kakashi suddenly had the feeling like someone was already writing his eulogy but was not right I mean who was strong enough to kill him and would so badly want to

'_Did I offend someone without knowing it? If so who in the world did I piss off?'_

"Oi Kakashi it's training time"

'_Ugh great it's Kakashi-ass-kicking time'_

"Come on Godaime we are burning daylight"

"Hai Sandaime-sama" _'I must have definitely pissed off fate or something'_

A clinking sound however drew his attention to the window where he saw a messenger bird, now this was strange because all messenger birds were taken in by the Intel division not the Hokage's office

"Kakashi stop stalling, why is that bird here?"

"That is what I want to know. It seems there is a message attached to it the message has the Kumo symbol on it"

After what had been dubbed the Hyuuga Incident relations between Kumo and Konoha were strained at best so to find a missive from them was concerning to say the least

"Surely they don't think that we can trust them after what they pulled" said Kakashi who was two thoughts away from burning the letter to cinders, he did not have a strong moral code, evidence of that was his favourite book, but the ones that he did have he held onto them fiercely: kidnapping little girls and not assuming responsibility for it but depriving a child of his father was one of them.

"I know what you are thinking Kakashi but I am afraid that despite your personal thoughts on the matter you are honour bound to at least read the letter"

Sighing Kakashi knew that his predecessor was right but just in case of any unwanted surprises he raised his headband revealing his Sharingan eye,

_To the Godaime Hokage,_

_I understand that relations between our two villages are difficult at the moment and because of this I will like to change that. First of I will be sending my brother and his team to your Chunin exams the team is young but promising. I trust that you will kind to them as I will be arriving for the finals to see how they do._

_My council has agreed that we made a grave error in judgement seven years ago. We know that you did not send over the man that killed our representative but we have decided to let bygones be bygones. And in the spirit of that we will be sending over the body of the Hyuuga that you gave us so that his family can give him a proper burial. That is if you allow it after all he is a member of a noble clan: they have our condolences in these trying times. _

_When I arrive I hope to continue this goodwill between our villages by proposing an alliance not between our military but between our trading routes. This will definitely help in boosting both of our economies. _

_Now my council does not approve of me doing this but I sent a message to our Daimyo allowing him to sometimes give missions to Konoha and I trust you will do the same._

_I look forward to meeting you,_

_Yondaime Raikage._

"Well that was certainly an interesting letter, don't you think so Kakashi-kun"

"Either the Raikage has gone mad or he actually believes that I am utter dunce" said Kakashi who was still waiting for this joke of a letter to reveal its real intent

"I believe he knows that you will not believe a word of what he wrote there but can you afford not to do what he says?"

"Fuck yes I can. I mean who the hell does he think he is?"

"Someone with the manpower and resources to start another Shinobi World War; the only thing he needs now is motive"

"That was the reason why you handed over a father; orphaning a boy"

"It was for the greater good and Hizashi offered"

"He should not have had to, if Kumo thinks that I will just roll over and play nice after what they pulled then they will realize just how dangerous Konoha's Copy Ninja really is"

"This is not about you or what happened with your father. If you do this then Neji will not be the only orphan in the village who's lost his family to Kumo"

"ANBU call my advisors here now"

"A wise choice four heads are better than two"

Ten minutes later Kakashi had read the letter out to Fugaku and Tsume and neither of them were pleased with what they heard

Fugaku spoke first "this is not an easy situation Hokage-sama while I do not wish to let Kumo think we are weak Konoha has just finally recovered from the Kyuubi attack and Danzo's defection. The last thing that we need right now is war"

"Not to mention what the Hyuuga clan are going to do once they get wind of this because the truth is that we cannot make a decision about Hizashi's remains without consulting them first" said Tsume

"Hiashi will want to know what the village's stand is on this is, I can't very well tell him that we have none, not after his brother's sacrifice" said Kakashi "the Sandaime is of the opinion that we should play Kumo's game; lay on our backs and let them walk right over us"

"All I am saying is that we cannot let our egos decide, we need to employ caution"

Tsume frowned in thought "we also cannot let Kumo believe that we are easy prey because like it or not Konoha has a reputation of being the strongest of the Hidden Villages. If we bow to Kumo now then we lose that advantage and the other nations, Kumo and Iwa especially, will start pressing to see just how weak we are: how long before they decide to strike?"

"There is also the fact that Danzo is now working with Kumo that alone will give them the courage that they need to take us out" said Kakashi

"What if that is the actual plan already?"

"What do you mean Fugaku?"

"Think about it: the Raikage, Danzo, the Raikage's brother whom we know to be a Jinchuriki will be in attendance during the Chunin exams; the one time when the village will be stretched thin due to the influx of people"

"Fugaku are you suggesting that the Raikage and Danzo are planning to use the Chunin exams as a front for an invasion?" asked the Sandaime

"I can't afford not to think about it that way"

And just like that the atmosphere in the room changed because they all knew that an invasion was now just not a possibility but a real threat. It was amazing how one letter could destroy Kumo's element of surprise.

Tsume decided to ask the obvious question "what are we going to do?"

Rubbing his already aching head, Hiruzen replied "the first thing that we have to do is call Hiashi and see whether or not he will want us to have his brother's body back then we have to decide how to invite the Raikage here without letting him know that we think he is planning to invade us"

"ANBU please teleport Hiashi here we need him immediately"

"How do you want to tell him?" asked Tsume

"How do we tell a man that his brother whom handed himself over to our enemies is being brought back after seven years in a body bag? There really should be a greeting card for that" said Kakashi

Fugaku smirked "perhaps we should print one"

They all smiled at that, who knew the Uchiha clan could tell a joke, but the knock on the door made them all serious again

"Come in" said Kakashi

"Hokage-sama you sent for me"

"Hai Hyuuga-sama, please sit down" taking a deep breath Kakashi said "seeing as there is no easy way to say this I will just be honest. We received a message from Kumo earlier today and part of the message was that they are seeking permission to return your brother Hizashi's remains"

Hiashi visibly stiffened "to what end?"

"That is what this meeting is for but before we proceed we want to know what your stand is"

Hiashi narrowed his eyes in suspicion "There is more at play here, isn't there?"

"More than we are comfortable with I'm afraid"

Taking a deep breath he decided to just trust his Hokage "I will like to have my brother's remains so that he may have a proper burial but not at the expense of the village"

Kakashi shared a look with his advisors then faced Hiashi again "we shall see to it that that is possible. Thank you for coming Hyuuga-sama"

"Thank you for seeking my approval Hokage-sama. I will leave it to you"

After he left Kakashi said "well that went better than expected"

"Indeed so that part is taken care of, now the big question of how are we going to reply the Raikage and prepare for an invasion without letting anyone think that something is wrong"

"Uchiha-san is right; writing the reply is the easy part the hard part will be not revealing any contingence plans to the Raikage. We cannot afford to tip the Raikage off and lose our element of surprise" said Hiruzen

"I might have a possible way but it is going to need some fine tuning" said Tsume

"That is what we are here for, let's hear it" said Kakashi

"The response team that we have been talking about why don't we select trainers and cadets for a trail run to see if the idea has merit? This way we can engage a select number of our shinobi and since it is not a new idea the Raikage will only think that we are just testing a new program"

"And knowing how stubborn A is he won't give it a second thought. So we already have the list of trainers but the cadets are still undecided" said Fugaku

"I was thinking of Team Gai; they are young, full of potential plus they have experience in dealing with highly trained enemies a little brushing up should do the trick"

"While the idea does have merit I certainly hope you don't plan to put Sozen Kari's children at the forefront of our response to an invasion or else I will back out right now" said Hiruzen

"We may not have to"

"You have another idea Kakashi?"

"Yeah you keep training me because I represent Konoha as the Hokage; well the trainers need to be ready to train the best team Konoha has ever produced so in order to do that they need to be as prepared as possible. And due to this being an experimental program their training will just be them sharpening their skills because we don't have the time or resources to find a trainer for them because of the upcoming Chunin exams"

"It is not air-tight but it will definitely do" said Fugaku

"All right let's work out the details and send a reply back to the Raikage"

"Oh that reminds me we are not actually going to send a letter to the Fire Daimyo asking him to send some missions to Kumo right?" asked Tsume

"Not a chance but he won't know that"

Kumo the next day

Raikage's office

_To the Yondaime Raikage,_

_I was pleased to get your letter. I agree with you it is time to let bygones be bygones. I spoke to the Hyuuga clan on your behalf and they accept your condolences and would be glad to have the remains of their clansman returned to them so that they may give him a proper burial._

_I have sent a letter to the Fire Daimyo asking him to send some missions your way and I also explained to him the benefits of an economic alliance with you will bring. I will discuss the details we drew up for you when you come to Konoha_

_Inside the envelope are Chunin forms and passes for your brother and his team. We will be honoured to have them and we assure you that we will treat them with utmost respect._

_Until we meet,_

_Godaime Hokage. _

'_I got you now Konoha soon you and the rest of the elemental nations will know exactly who is the strongest village'_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The atmosphere in the Sozen household was thick with tension. After what happened yesterday between Naruto and Sasuke everyone was on edge, especially Kari. She was not entirely sure how to fix this problem without causing more trouble. After all these years of trying to make sure that Sasuke did not turn into the next Uchiha Madara it was happening right in front of her and there seemed to be nothing she could do to change that.

'_And Kakashi wants them to enter this year's Chunin exams. That would be a great idea but right now the team's unity is too frail and anything could destroy it. I need to do something I can't just seat by as my grandkids potentially kill each other the question is what can I do?'_

"You think I am a monster don't you?"

Raising her head she noticed Sasuke standing in the door of her study with a pained expression on his face "Sasuke I don't think you are a monster"

Pain became anger as Sasuke shouted "Don't lie to me I know that you think I am just like Madara a monster who must be stopped!"

"Where is this coming from?"

"I know that you hate me, you are just taking care of me because you are so afraid that I will end up like him if you don't control me"

'_Dear Kami am I so oblivious that I don't notice my grandchild suffering?' _

"Sasuke I can assure you that I don't wish to control you"

"Yes you do that is what he said"

Kari's senses picked up on that quickly; someone was influencing her grandson to turn against her and that person will pay for that but first she had work to do and honesty was the only way to get through to Sasuke

"Sasuke come in, sit down please"

Watching the pained expression on his face as he came to seat down solidified her vow to slowly and painfully destroy the son of a bitch who would dare mess with her family especially her own grandson

"Sasuke you are my grandson and I love you regardless of the fact that you have a higher than normal Yang chakra in your system. None of that is your fault and while yes that worries me it only worries me because I don't want that hate to take over you. Believe me Sasuke hatred is a powerful emotion and it can destroy you if you let it"

"It is not about hatred!"

"Okay Sasuke I know that I have not been listening to you but I am here now. Please tell me what it is about"

"Naruto is hated by the village for something that he can't control and you defend him constantly and when we graduated you gave him more attention than me. My family is treated with suspicion because of what happened to the Elders last year and I suffer the brunt of that daily. I have to bear the Uchiha and Sozen name with dignity and you don't help because you think that Naruto should be cuddled for all the pain he goes through. Well I know that Naruto goes through hell in the village but so do I. What about my pain Baa-chan? Is my suffering inferior to Naruto's or is it because he is your favourite?"

At this point they both had tears in their eyes "I will not deny the fact that Naruto holds a special place in my heart but that does not mean that I have any favourites if you don't believe me use your sharingan. Good now look at the signs that I taught you to look for when I say again that I have no favourites. Naruto is the baby of the house and that means that he is treated like the baby of the house but you are my first born and Sai is my second and I love and cherish you both"

"You don't act like you do"

Getting up from her seat she sat down next to Sasuke and took him into her lap; a little known fact Sasuke was a cuddle bunny. "Well I guess I would just have to get better at knowing how to show you how much I care about you. And yes I know that you are in pain I just never thought that you would allow me help because anytime I try you shut me out but now I can see that I should have tried harder"

"I only shut you out because I didn't want you to think I was weak that I couldn't handle myself"

"That is just it Sasuke sharing your pain with those who love you is not a weakness. It is easier to try to bear the pain on your own but it takes a strong person to know that he is in pain and that he can't carry it by himself and an even stronger person to share that pain with someone that they can trust and who better than the family who loves and cherishes you"

Sasuke finally calmed down "I am sorry for what I said to Naruto"

"I am sorry that I made you feel that sharing your pain with me would change my opinion of you because it won't you will always be my little star-kissed raven" [I take sadistic pleasure in giving Uchiha Sasuke this nickname. No apologies]

A small smile spread across Sasuke's face "you haven't called me that in a while Baa-chan"

"Well you told me that you have outgrown it but I have missed calling you that, perhaps I will only do it in private from now on"

"I will like that Baa-chan"

CRASH!

They both jumped and ran into the kitchen where the sound came from to find Naruto and Sai covered in flour and tomato paste head to toe and the kitchen was covered in it too

Kari was confused "what were you boys trying to do?"

Naruto shuffled forward "well Sai told me that Sasuke was hurt so I wanted to make his favourite cake for him with some tomatoes on the side but this happened"

Sasuke was stunned "you did this for me even after what happened yesterday?"

"Look I know that I said and did some things yesterday that I am not proud of I didn't like what you were saying but I shouldn't have hit you so I am…"

"I'm sorry for what I did"

Naruto's head shut up in shock to see Sasuke smiling at him but he had to know something "why did you?"

Sasuke sighed "I was dealing with some things and I took it out on you and Sai so I am sorry"

Sai and Kari held their breath in anticipation of what Naruto would do next because if the boys did not resolve their issues now then heaven knows what would happen.

But Naruto being Naruto grinned broadly "typical teme always so damn dramatic"

Sasuke smirked "you are one to talk klutz"

Kari smiled "you know the true test of a family comes when things like this happen and they can talk and forgive each other and move forward. That is what makes up a real family and I have some news to share with you three. You have been nominated to be in this year's Chunin exams by the Hokage himself"

"Baa-chan that is awesome we will become Chunin in no time"

"When is the exam starting?" asked Sai

"In three months but right now you and Naruto need to clean up this mess. Come on Sasuke what do you say we go finish our talk?"

"I would like that"

"Good"

A masked man stared at the family from the shadows disappointed that his plan to use Sasuke had just made their bond stronger; it seems that if he wanted to get Itachi and Sasuke on his side he would have to do something drastic. Perhaps he could massacre their clan and blame it on the village the pressure alone should be enough to drive a wedge between them and their precious home.

'_Just wait nephews of mine soon you will see the despair and desolation that this world offers and then you will have no choice but to join me and then Konoha will burn' _after that he disappeared

Konoha Academy

Sora was eating lunch on the roof contemplating everything that has happened to him in the last year since he came to Konoha. After he was vetted by the Interrogations department the Hokage offered him the chance to be a shinobi of Konoha while they tried to sort out exactly who he was and where in the world did he get the Kyuubi chakra in his system.

So for the last few months now he had been attending classes at the academy and trying to forget everything that has happened to him so far. One thing he knew for sure was that Konoha had it well within their rights to kill him but they didn't instead they offered him the chance to be a part of them and there was no way that he was going to throw that away.

"Hello Sora"

Sora jumped and turned to come face to face with a masked man the next thing he saw was red then blank. Ten seconds later he woke up to find himself on the ground with no idea of how he got there.

'_Sometimes all a master plan needs is an oblivious pawn. When the time is right I will unleash Sora's full capabilities on the Uchiha clan and then who else will Sasuke have to blame but the Hokage who refused to make the hard choice. And with the Uchiha out of the way Konoha will never see my plans coming until it is too late'_

Elsewhere

Anko was standing in the Uchiha clan private cemetery in front of a particular grave stone when she felt someone walk next to her

"You haven't come here in a while" said Itachi

"I know"

"You don't have to always come here you know?"

Taking his hand she sighed "sometimes I wish I could see her again just so that I can know why she called me nee-chan when she knew that I couldn't save her from dying"

"Perhaps it was because she saw you fight on behalf of her and everyone there"

"It still wasn't enough. Sometimes I day-dream about her being alive, about what it would be like to have a little sister"

"You have three little brothers Anko and they adore you"

Anko smiled at that "it is different Itachi. You know I spoke to Kurenai apparently she has decided to take on three girls I am actually supposed to meet them tomorrow"

"I did not know that Kurenai wanted to be a sensei"

"I didn't either. They are nine year olds same age as Naruto, Sai and Sasuke and according to her they have a lot of potential"

"I am sure she is just excited to see a trio of girls who aren't fangirls"

Anko chuckled at that "yeah Kurenai really hates fangirls about as much as you and your brother attract them"

Itachi scoffed "down side of being devilishly handsome"

Anko looked at her boyfriend in shock "since when did you get so cocky"

Itachi narrowed his eyes in thought "Around the time I fell in love in with you"

"No that can't be right you were never that cocky"

"Hmm I thought you always said that all Uchiha are born with a chip on their shoulder"

"Now we both know that you are not like the rest of your clan and neither is your family"

Hugging her he said "so that's why you love us"

"Hmm I'll admit it is one of the reasons" said Anko

"Well we love you too"

The smile that was on her face however diminished when she remembered where she was "I wonder if she loved me too"

"I am sure she did just like I know that she is proud of you"

Anko couldn't help but smile at her boyfriend he always knew how to cheer her up so she let him pull her in and hold her close _'thank you for pushing me to fight Akira I promise that I won't stop fighting and I know that you are watching over me so watch your big sister kick butt and take names. I will see you someday Imouto I hope you will be proud of me then'_

"Come on Kaa-chan wants to see you"

"Okay. Good bye Akira"

Back at the Sozen household

After talking with Sasuke to help him sort out his fears and struggles Kari realized that she had missed her grandson. Ever since Sora attacked them Sasuke had started to assume the role of first born of the house very seriously and while she was proud of him he started to shut her out and she began to spend more and more time with Naruto thinking that Sasuke didn't need her

But now she could see that she was wrong and she would make sure that she did not exclude herself from grandson's life ever again but now that her relationship with Sasuke was back on track there was something that she needed to know

"Sasuke when you told me that "that is what he said" who were you referring to?"

"Oh just an old guy I met in the Uchiha clan compound he told me some things about you I didn't believe him at first and now that we have talked I should probably tell him that he was wrong about my family"

"Can you describe him for me Sasuke?"

"Baa-chan he is not a bad guy he has just been hurt before by the village and he is a harmless old man"

"Sasuke think deeply about the tactics that this old man used to get you to question your home; yes I am happy that it helped us bond closer together but I worry Sasuke"

Now that his brain was not running on full adrenaline anymore Sasuke did as his grandmother asked "now that I think about it I have never seen him at any clan meetings nor does he resemble any of our clan members yet he had a sharingan in his right eye and a bandage on his left"

"You remember what your father told you and your brother about the rogue Uchiha calling himself Uchiha Madara?"

Sasuke's brain kicked into overdrive and the truth of his genius shined through "it was him, he wants to drive a wedge between me, Itachi and the village to a point where we will trust him and be inclined to the idea of harming the village because of our sharingan eyes"

A secret among their family was that Itachi and Sasuke had the best Sharingan in the village second only to their father but the benefit of theirs is that they are growing and so is their bloodline limit.

When the truth of that sank in Sasuke became pissed "I can't believe I almost let that son of a bloody asshole trick me into turning against my family"

"Believe me Sasuke when I find this rogue Uchiha I will end him but he did do us a favour I am ashamed to say that if you did not come out the way you did I would not have known what you were going through"

"Yeah I only had the strength to tell you because I did not want to believe what he told me. I am glad I did"

"Me too I love you Sasuke"

"I love you too Baa-chan"

"Aw isn't that sweet?"

Standing in the doorway was Naruto and Sai "indeed it is sweet Naruto-kun"

"I hope you boys have cleaned up that kitchen"

"Hai Baa-chan"

"Good"

Knock. Knock.

"I wonder who that could be?" asked Kari who was not expecting anybody at her door today when she answered it she was not quite sure if she should have

"YOSH SOZEN-SAMA I AM HERE WITH THE MOST YOUTHFILLED NEWS!"

The boys intentionally refused to come out, they admired their sensei's strength but today was not the day for his brand of crazy. Thankfully Kari felt the same way as them

"Is it that the boys are going to be entering the Chunin exams in three months? Because I already know that Gai and I have told them"

"EH YOU ALREADY KNOW? YOSH SOZEN-SAMA YOU ARE TRULY RESOURCEFUL!"

"Gai do me a favour; give the boys today off they will resume training tomorrow"

"Hmm a day off might dampen their youthful vigour. YOSH I ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE OF BRINGING THEIR YOUTHFULNESS TO FULL CAPACITY TOMORROW"

Kari nodded "good for you goodbye now" and with that she closed the door and turning to her scared grandsons she said "well crazy is crazy nothing you can do about that except try to deal with it"

"I still think that Jiji should have that guy's head examined possibly with a Yamanaka" said Naruto

"Examined no shipped off to crazy town yes"

"Sasuke what a terrible thing to say crazy town will not be able to hold him"

They all laughed at that before Naruto's stomach decided to tell everyone his feelings on the topic

"Damn dobe you're always hungry"

"Suck it teme I have a big appetite sue me"

"Suck it or sue you which one am I supposed to do?"

"Now, now boys let's not fight"

Sasuke suddenly remembered something "Oh Baa-chan can we practice the katas that you have been teaching us after lunch?"

Surprised but pleased Kari said "Absolutely"

**Author's note: thanks to all my new followers. Don't forget to review.**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

When Ino had agreed to start training harder she did not know that this will be a part of it. The past two weeks had been the worst two weeks of her life: Kurenai-sensei had refused to teach them anything until she found out exactly what they could do and all of their hidden talents. Ino loved Kurenai and thought the world of her but the sheer number of tests and drills that she put them through were absolutely ludicrous. Seriously she was not kidding she made them do a drill with clothes just to see if they could use it as a weapon, who uses clothes to fight for goodness sake?

That was not even the worst of it. Kurenai was a fucking bloody perfectionist! It was infuriating when the person you believe to be an angel on earth makes you run taijutsu drills over and over and over again. Ino had always eased through her training I mean she knew she was already amazing and that she was a budding genius [her father told her so] so she already had this training thing in the bag. She would of course never admit that maybe by some small chance Shikamaru was rubbing off on her. She was good and hot and she knew it so why did she need to know whether she would be good at seduction? By the time she grew boobs like Kurenai guys would trip over each other to get her attention. The worst part was that Sakura loved the attention to detail as much as she hated it.

'_Thank Kami for Hinata else I would have killed Forehead by now for making me look like a spoiled brat who was more interested in fashion than in training. So what if I like looking good is that so bad? I mean Kurenai is living proof that you can be drop dead hot and still powerful. I mean my nails look like something out of a horror movie and my shiny hair is now dull, DULL!'_

Sighing she realized that the only part of the past two weeks that she did not completely hate was when Kurenai had given them her assessments of their skills and talents though the memory was bittersweet.

_Flashback_

_Kurenai looked at her students with a critical eye as though scanning them one more time. She knew that she had been hard on them these past two weeks but they managed to go through it without quitting. Even Ino for all her bluster had been pulled through and she was going make sure that these girls got the best training possible she would accept nothing less. _

"_I know that you all are exhausted from the drills that I put you through but I am proud of you for not quitting on me. Unfortunately while the drills have successfully told me what I wanted to know about your skill-sets it is not going to get easier from here in fact it is only to get harder. So you have one more chance to quit"_

"_We won't quit Kurenai-sensei" said Sakura making Ino roll her eyes at the obvious teacher's pet amongst them_

"_Ano Kurenai-sensei do you think that we can make it?" asked a timid Hinata_

_Kurenai looked at her shy student with a smile that never seized to dazzle them, Ino included, "When we first started Hinata you were so shy you could not talk without shuttering but now you have stopped doing that. So yes I know that you all will excel at this but only if you want to"_

"_Look Kurenai-sensei we want this so just tell us already" said Ino causing Sakura to frown at her rude attitude_

"_Ino watch your mouth and don't talk to sensei like that"_

_Ino was already pissed off at her current body condition and the fact that Sakura was always hogging __**her **__spotlight but thankfully before she could put the Billboard in her place Hinata stepped in_

"_Ano please don't fight please"_

_Kurenai's eyes narrowed at the tension between Sakura and Ino. They were both alpha females and while Sakura had been content to let Ino take the spotlight before she was not doing so now. It was only because of how much both girls loved Hinata that they were tolerating each other at all but even then it was a temporary fix. _

_Sighing she knew that this was her responsibility now maybe she could get Anko to talk to Ino tomorrow or something. _

"_Okay that's enough now. We will do the assessments in three things: your affinities, your fields and your ace that you can choose to develop or not. Sakura you have a strong affinity for medical techniques, genjutsu and a power-based taijutsu: Your field is support and strategic planning: Your ace is your photographic memory boosted by your genius IQ. Hinata your affinity lies in ninjutsu, a flow-based taijutsu and fuinjutsu: Your field is support and defence: Your ace is chakra flexibility which means with enough work you can create your own chakra based bloodline. Ino your affinity lies in kenjutsu, a speed-based taijutsu, ninjustu: Your field is frontline assault and assassination: Your ace is your perception you see things that normal people miss."_

_Smirking Ino said "then that makes me best suited to be team leader" 'take that Sakura-baka the spotlight will forever be mine'_

_Hinata and Kurenai saw the disaster before it happened 'oh shit'_

_Sakura's face went red with rage "what do you mean you are best suited to be team leader? You are rude, impatient and you don't even want to be here Ino-bunta"_

"_What did you just call me Billboard?" said Ino standing up and glaring Sakura in the eye_

_Not one to back down from challenge Sakura glared right back "Ino-bunta or are your pig ears to tiny to hear?"_

_Ino would have jumped her had Kurenai not physically pulled them apart "That is enough you two are teammates act like it"_

Flashback end

That had been the end of yesterday's session and now she was sitting in training ground 2, a place that had been her hell for two weeks, wishing she was somewhere else. This whole thing of wanting to graduate next year was a bad idea from the beginning and she knew it. Now two weeks after she and Sakura could not even look at each other and poor Hinata was torn in between her two new friends

'_This is a hot mess'_

And she was not the only one who thought so. Kurenai was in the trees observing her new students with worry etched into her face. Hinata was too scared of losing her friends that she refused to give them the blow to the head that they needed. Sakura had been put down all her life because of her hair and forehead and now that she was trying to stand up for herself her best friend and secret role model was putting her down. And Ino was so worried that she would not be able to keep up with her two 'genius' friends that she was lording her, at least to her, only asset-her looks-over them.

"Well you look like shit"

"Anko you are late" said Kurenai though she could not hide the relieved look on her face at seeing her best friend

Smirking Anko said "well what can I say I can try to be on time but then I actually have to care though if you offer Dango then even Father Time won't be able to delay me"

Chuckling Kurenai turned to face her and said "sometimes I think you would sell Itachi for Dango"

Putting her hand on her heart in fake-repulsion Anko replied "sell the love of my life for just Dango hell no; throw in some red-bean soup and you got a deal"

Laughing for the first time all morning Kurenai said "you always know how to cheer me up although I wonder what Itachi would think of you selling him for food"

"Bite your tongue Dango is more than just food. So let me guess, the kiddies are more problematic than you expected but you can't leave them"

"It is more than that. They remind me of us"

Raising an eyebrow in question Anko looked at the trio in question "yeah I don't see it"

"Ino is so focused on maintaining the number one spot that she ignores everything around her. Hinata has lost far too much for a nine year old and she is scared that if she stands up for herself she would lose her friends too. Sakura wants to prove her worth so much that she refuses to ask for help."

Finally seeing the point she said "me, you and Itachi"

"Exactly"

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Talk to Ino"

"Yeah I am not much of a talker if you want me to scare the shit of them then I will do so gladly"

"Please Anko if Ino can just get over this problem then she can help Hinata with her confidence and Sakura will have someone who can bulldoze through her defences to bring out the potential in her."

Sighing Anko could already feel like someone up there must hate her

'_Talking to a nine year old girl with my headstrong personality, please kill me now'_

Looking at her best friend though she could clearly see that this was important to her "Kami I must be going soft or something"

"Thanks Anko. Come on let's go meet them"

"Hai, Hai"

Meanwhile Ino was just about tired of waiting for her sensei, I mean it was 9am which meant she was an hour late, when she appeared. The first thing she wanted to do was shout 'you're late' but the words disappeared when she saw the person standing next to Kurenai.

"O.M.G"

Kurenai looks like an angelic princess but this person looked like a badass, sexy and dangerous warrior. Where Kurenai was regal she was seductive: where Kurenai was confident she was cocky: where Kurenai was level-headed she was downright reckless. Kurenai would always be Ino's role model of beauty but this person was now her role model for personality.

She could just see it now: everybody worshipping her beauty yet being captivated by her personality. No one would be able to steal her spotlight ever again and she would go down in history as the vision of every guy's dreams and the envy and aspiration of every girl.

"So this is the team Kurenai has told me so much about" said Anko whose ego was being stroked heavily by the stars she could see in the girls eyes _'yeah bow before the awesome Mitirashi Anko bow I say'_

Rolling her eyes at her friends attitude Kurenai was at least glad that the girls were already looking up to her and as far as the girls current state well there was a reason Itachi was hated by every male in the village. They were powerful visions and they knew it. So it was no surprise that the girls were so stunned she couldn't blame them but perhaps she could have some fun with them.

'_Damn I must spend too much time with Anko if I want to do this oh well this could be fun'_

The girls were just about to come down from their shock when Kurenai tilted her head slowly towards Anko and whispered something into her ear then they both smiled. They were thus unprepared for what happened next.

Five minutes later the girls were sweating visibly and their breath had practically left them. While Anko and Kurenai were smiling innocently, poor Hinata was a hair's breath away from passing out in shock because for the past five minutes Anko and Kurenai had shown off just how sexy they were with methods that will now be forever be etched into the girl's memory, scarring inappropriate though they may be

"Evil you two are pure adulterated evil" said Ino before she started crying anime tears "please teach me to be just like you"

"Hmmm okay let me see…no" said Anko causing Ino to face-plant

'_Funny I thought she would say something else'_

"Alright girls allow me to formally introduce my best friend and teammate Mitirashi Anko"

Anko did an over the top bow, showing off as usual "yes I know it is an honour to meet me but you can still say it" 

"It is an honour to meet me Anko-san" quietly said Hinata

"Aw Nai-chan she is so cute can I eat her please I promise to wash my hands this time"

All the girls turned pale and turned to Kurenai as if to ask if Anko would really do that. Thankfully Kurenai shook her head that no Anko was just kidding but Anko was having fun messing with their heads so she 'whispered' to Kurenai

"I promise to not let my snakes bite her more than ten times I swear I will even be gentle with my stabbing"

Kurenai could see the life drain from her student's faces and Hinata was close to hyperventilating. It was a testament to the fact that she had spent too much time with Anko that a part of her was enjoying the expressions on their faces.

"Perhaps if you behave I will let you have her tonight"

They watched the girls scared faces for two seconds longer before they started laughing. Anko dropped to the ground laughing so hard while Kurenai put her hand on her mouth trying to stem her amusement at her student's expense. Anko was less than kind

"Kami oh my ribs you chicks are too easy. Lighten up will ya?"

Colour had started returning to their faces but they all non-verbally agreed that their sensei and her friend were sadists. Though Sakura was a definitely going to remember this moment and vengeance will be hers.

"Alright the reason I brought Anko here is because she is going to be helping me train you three from time to time. But before we start I need you guys to tell me why you have been fighting: the real reason"

"You heard the woman ducklings why can't you get along?" seeing that no one was going to talk first Anko pointed to Hinata "why are you fighting with your friends?"

Instantly Hinata froze up "I-I-I-I-I"

Glaring at Anko Ino said "Hinata is not fighting with any of us you damn bitch"

Raising an eyebrow at the curse word Anko said "oh then why is she shaking like a guilty person?"

Sakura spoke up this time "It is not her fault she is always trying to keep me and Ino from fighting"

"Are you sure I heard that you and Ino were best friends why would you be fighting?"

"We fight because Sakura likes to piss me off"

"I don't like to piss you off you have a bad attitude"

"Hmmm I still think it is the Hyuuga girl's fault who knows removing her from this team and replacing her with someone else might just help"

"Cha you are not replacing Hinata"

"You have not given any reason why I shouldn't"

Knowing that they had to tell the truth if they wanted to save Hinata who looked like she was about to start crying Ino glared hatefully at Anko "we fight because I have always been the star in my family but now on the team I am the weakest link. Hinata is the Hyuuga heiress and Sakura has the mental prowess to rival a Nara and I have nothing."

Ino hated being seen as anything but the best and so airing out her fears like this was painful especially since she was so sure that Sakura would make fun of her but if what she did helped keep Hinata on the team then it would be worth it

"It is my fault okay I am the reason we are always fighting. I hate how useless I am to the team and even my looks won't be worth a damn compared to theirs in a few years. So please don't punish Hinata she is the only thing keeping me together please"

Now both Sakura and Hinata had tears in their eyes. Surprisingly Hinata spoke up clearly "I should have done better at keeping the team together I was so scared that if I spoke you guys would not want me anymore. Ino you're my friend and you are absolutely valuable to me. I wouldn't trade you for the world so please don't say such things"

Ino smiled and hugged her friend but still refused to look Sakura in the eye "I am sorry Sakura for slowing you down"

With tears running her face Sakura grabbed both of her friends "stupid pig always being so dramatic. How could you even think that we can replace you or that you are the weakest link? If not for you I would still be bullied by Ami and Hinata would still be suffering in loneliness. If you want me to say it fine I will say it but you better pay attention you are my inspiration and don't you dare think otherwise you hear me?"

Kurenai smiled "I am so proud of you three one thing you need to understand is that part of being in a team means that sometimes you will fight bitterly but a real team forgives one another and they grow the stronger for it."

After the crying had stopped Ino suddenly turned on Anko in shock then awe "you played us"

Smiling innocently Anko said "I have no idea what you mean"

"Like hell you don't you used our love for Hinata to force the truth to the surface. You completely played us and we did not realize it until it was all said and done. You had us eating out of your hand from the moment you set foot here. You are my hero"

Anko smirked neither confirming nor denying it _'perceptive huh impressive maybe this won't be as boring as I dreaded'_

Elsewhere

Naruto was absolutely sure of one very simple truth: he had completely destroyed someone's life in his past life and he was paying for it now. Yesterday when Gai said that he would ensure that they would double up their training today to compensate for yesterday's free day he was not joking. It was only mid-morning yet Naruto felt like he was about to die from exhaustion and his crazy sensei was barely winded.

They had gotten to the training ground at 5am as usual to find their crazy sensei excited to start training. Gai had then proceeded to give them prayer beads and told them to attach them to their wrists and ankles as they would increase their youthfulness or some nonsense. Immediately they put it on Gai activated them causing them to drop in shock from the weight of the beads.

"These beads glow with different colours the first stage is yellow, then green, then red, and then black. The final stage is when it turns back to white after that they will fall off until then you can't take them off."

To understand why this pissed the boys off you need to keep in mind that they were already wearing resistance seals that was on level 2 making it feel like they were walking through mud and now they had heaven knows how many pounds to add to it. To make matters worse Gai had doubled their morning exercises telling them "no pain no gain"

Naruto had never before this day hated the colour yellow but right now staring at the yellow bead on his wrist he could confidently say that he despised the colour yellow. Looking at his brothers he saw that they too were drop dead tired but Gai was actually doing squats while they rested!

'_I have decided Gai-sensei must die'_

"**I must admit for a human the monkey is very durable"**

'_Crazy is more like it'_

"**Come now brat surely you know just how strong you will be after those beads turn white"**

'_You know Sai is already our team's voice of reason I do not need you to do it to'_

"**Tch as leader of your team shouldn't that be your responsibility?"**

'_A leader must be passionate and crazy enough to motivate his followers and I am both thus I have passionately decided that Gai-sensei must die'_

Kyuubi rolled his eyes **"the fact of the matter is that you are nowhere near strong enough to kill your sensei you can barely move"**

Naruto's eye twitched _'just you watch teme I will be so powerful someday that I will kick your ass'_

"**Uh-huh whatever you say midget"**

Naruto growled at his tenant then he smirked _'well if I am a midget and you can fit snugly inside of me with room to spare, what that makes you?'_

A roar echoed in Naruto's head but the headache was more than worth it.

"Take that baka fox"

"You know some people believe that talking to yourself out loud is the first stage of madness"

"Shut up Sai"

"YOSH MY YOUTHFULL STUDENTS ARE READY TO START OUR REAL TRAINING"

Naruto glared at Gai "real training so what have we been doing for the past five hours?"

"WARM-UPS"

Naruto twitched violently. Yes Gai-sensei was going to die a slow and painful death and after he was dead they would burn the body with fire and incense. But just then Sai said something that freaked the boys out big time

"This man is our sensei what happens if we unknowingly become like him or inspire someone to do just that"

That was the day that the boys vowed to never become like Gai and beat the living shit out of anyone who dared try to become like their retarded sensei. Somewhere in the village Lee sneezed and felt a shiver crawl down his spine.

"I wonder who is talking about me"

Meanwhile

Sora knew that something was terribly wrong the second he woke up at 10:20am. He never slept in and there was no way that he was so tired since he had done nothing too strenuous all day yesterday. Standing on the bed his sensitive nose smelt blood and ripping the bed sheets off him he saw that his shirt was stained with blood but there was no injury on him.

Taking time to look around his room he saw that he had apparently tracked in dirt and his weapon stock had reduced which was impossible. After what happened with Orochimaru he had become afraid that he would lose himself again even though Inoichi had assured him that the seal was gone; he still worried and now it seems that the nightmare had become real.

'_Kami not again what do I do?'_

Going back to Inoichi with this was dangerous since there was no way that Konoha would allow a flight risk to run rampant around the village not after what he nearly did last time. He was finally starting to gain the respect of the village and his life had become okay he did not want to ruin that. Inoichi had declared yesterday their final official session saying that Sora could come see him whenever he wanted to if he just wanted someone to talk to.

'_If I tell him that I may have killed someone last night but I don't remember doing it what will he say? Will he still trust me? Oh who am I kidding even I don't trust me. No I just have to get better control of myself that's all I can do this'_

The next day Uchiha Shigeru was found dead in one of the many forests in Konoha by Chunin who were looking for a secret place to train.

'_Hn everything is going according to plan soon Itachi-kun soon you will see the village for the despicable place that it is and then you will join me'_

**Author's note: Storm Blade Rebellion just hit the 200 mark for followers with favourites not far behind. For that I want to say a big fat thank you to everyone who believed in this story enough to follow it and me. Thank you, you all have made me a happy writer indeed. So this is another instalment of Storm Blade Rebellion let me know what you all think. Your reviews are really needed so tell me what you like, what you don't like and any suggestions you may have and if you have none just say "good job"**

**Next chapter will be the final round-up before the Chunin exams and it will focus on Sora, Kakashi and Team Gai get assigned a mission that will force Naruto to do something…**

**Till next time,**

**Dante out.**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

_Heavy is the Head That Wears the Crown Pt. 1_

"YOSH MY YOUTHFULL STUDENTS YOU DID IT" shouted a very excited Gai before he began crying anime tears at the fact that after two months the boys' beads had turned white and fell off this morning.

He was not the only one who was excited about this fact; the past two months had been painful for the boys. Both Gai and Kari had doubled up their training: taijutsu and kenjutsu especially which they would normally not have a problem with if not for the huge weight they were carrying. But finally it was over and the boys were excited to see just how strong they were now that the weights were off and they knew just how to do so.

Naruto shared a look with his brothers then turning to his sensei he said "Gai as the leader of this great team it is my responsibility to inform you of a gift we would like to give you for all that you have done for us"

Gai was over the moon: not only had his hard-working youthful students overcome their beads in two months but they wanted to give him a gift. His anime tears that were drying up burst forth again as he hugged his beautiful pupils.

"WHAT IS THIS GIFT MY BEAUTIFUL PUPILS?"

Sasuke smirked devilishly "a painful death"

Huh? That was all the warning he got before his instincts pushed him away from the boys to avoid a slash from Naruto. Now a normal sensei would have been offended or worried but Gai just saw it as his students being excited to test their youthfulness to the fullest in an all-out fight.

"YOSH HOW EXICTING I PROMISE TO NOT HOLD BACK IF I DO I WILL RUN A HUNDRED…" that was as far as he got before he jumped away to avoid a double slash from Naruto and Sasuke. Unfortunately the boys were expecting him to do that

"Earth style: Demon Spikes"

Gai narrowly avoided being skewered from Sai's technique which again was all part of the plan. Instincts once again pushed Gai on top of one the spikes to avoid Sasuke's lightning-encased drop kick which cracked the ground.

Seeing his chance Naruto slashed Gai at the back which he ducked allowing the plan to take action. When Gai bent-down to dodge Naruto attack he looked directly into Sasuke's sharingan dulling him for two seconds allowing Naruto to rotate his body mid-air and slam his leg into Gai's face sending him flying backwards. All this happened within ten seconds.

Gai was stunned he knew that his students were getting stronger but to get the drop on him so fast was incredible. For the past two months he and Kari had drilled them thoroughly: he helped them train in their new taijutsu style and their kenjutsu as well as their teamwork while Kari handled their ninjutsu, strategy as well as their specialities. But could they be as strong as him already?

A roar broke his thoughts as he bent backwards to avoid a slash from Sai's ink tiger, rotating his hips Gai was able to send a kick to destroy it but that kick left him open for half a second which was all the time Sasuke and Naruto needed to use a technique that Kari had taught them

Flashback

"_Alright boys today I am going to teach each of you a technique created by one of our Hokages, their personal jutsu"_

_Gaping Naruto asked "how do you know how to perform their personal jutsu?"_

"_The reason for that is…a secret" said Kari enjoying the deadpan look on their faces "now these techniques are…"_

Flashback End

"Raikiri"

"Rasengan"

Gai barely had time to activate the first gate before both jutsu slammed into him sending him spiralling right into Sai's line of sight, allowing Sai to show off his version of the Third Hokage's jutsu

"Earth Style: Rock Bullets"

"Second Gate: Open" the power of the second gate was the only reason that Gai was able to dodge the bullets sent to his vitals because there was no way he could dodge all of them.

'_Yosh it looks like my pupils are getting powerful I may have to stop holding back all together although it looks like they are really trying to kill me…nah they are just exhibiting a most youthful behaviour' _

Unfortunately for Gai the boys were not playing around, they knew that they had to come at their sensei with full intent to kill if they had any chance of beating him but what Gai lacked in strategy he more than made up for with speed and experience. Hence why they were barely able to dodge the vicious haymaker that he levelled at them

Naruto knew that their next play would have to come in now so he started it

"Fire Style: Raging Furnace"

Flashback two months ago

_During one of their training sessions with their grandmother Kari had decided to test out their affinities just to see what kind of ninjutsu that she would have to teach them. Although given what their weapons were she already knew and had been training them in it but she needed to know exactly how strong they were._

"_Boys come here for a minute"_

"_What's up Baa-chan?"_

"_If you had waited for three more seconds I am sure she would have told you dobe"_

"_Grrrr watch it teme"_

"_Now, now boys this is important today we are going to see just how strong your affinities are" with that said Kari gave them black pieces of paper confusing the boys since Sai had in one of his many boring lectures said that Chakra affinities were tested using brown paper not black ones._

"_Baa-chan, not to sound rude or anything, but why are these papers black?"_

_Smiling she said "Well Sai normally they should be brown but these papers are made of stronger materials and have been reinforced with chakra draining seals that makes it impossible for anyone to be able to see what their affinity is. However you boys are not normal and so I want to see just how strong your affinities are it will help let me know how much work we have ahead of us. So Sai you go first then Sasuke and finally Naruto"_

_When Sai sent his chakra into the paper Kari was expecting a piece of it to turn brown but she did not expect to see the entire paper crumble into dust. Sai just shrugged not fully understanding what was so special about that. Next up was Sasuke whose paper completely crinkled into itself after which it disintegrated but the biggest shocker was of course Naruto. The paper was shredded into tiny pieces after which those pieces then busted into flames._

_Kari was floored but her boys were just standing around waiting to see what was so special about what they had done after all they already knew what their affinities were. When Kari got a hold of herself she looked at her grandsons with a type of glee that sent shivers down their spines._

"_Do you boys know what this means?"_

_The answer was obvious but none of them including Naruto was going to say it the smile on Kari's face was seriously freaking them out and given whom their sensei was that was saying something._

"_Sai your earth affinity is so strong you can use any type of earth related substances: rock, granite, sand, mud and if you really push yourself you can use the famed Crystal release. Sasuke you have such an affinity to lightning that just like Sai you can use any type of lightning including the Third Raikage's Black Lightning and like Sai if you truly put your mind to it you can use the Swift Release. This is amazing"_

"_Yatta we are going to be awesome ttebayo what about me Baa-chan? I am sure I can use two chakra-based bloodlines"_

"_Don't get ahead of yourself Naruto-kun the only way that Sai and Sasuke can use the Crystal and Swift release is if they pour their heart and soul into training for it. But yes you all are pretty awesome and as for you Naruto-kun you can combine your wind affinity with your fire affinity to create flames that can rival the Nibi and yes with enough work you can use the only infamous chakra-based bloodline limit in Konoha's history aside from the Wood release. The Blaze Release"_

Flashback end

If Gai had the time he would have stopped to gape at the white, hot flame heading towards him but that was time he did not have. Using his speed he jumped over the flames and dashed towards Naruto at blinding speeds but Naruto could keep up.

"Dynamic Entry"

Now Gai was still using the Second Gate so normal people would have dodged the kick because not even Kakashi would dare to do what Naruto just did. Putting his left arm up to block Naruto caught Gai leg with his right hand and held it there. The sheer audacity of the move stunned Gai for a full second that Naruto used to his advantage.

Drawing Gai in Naruto jumped to meet Gai's level in mid-air and kicked him hard in the chest sending him into the air disorienting Gai for another second allowing Sasuke to follow up.

Uppercut

Drop-kick

Sweep kick

Uppercut

When Gai was in the air again Sasuke knew that he was going to regain himself unless he did something to disorient him again and give Sai the chance to hopefully finish him off.

"False Darkness Jutsu"

The genjutsu was dispelled a second later but that was all the time Sai needed to meet Gai in the air and punch him in the chest slamming him into the ground. Now this would not have worked on a normal basis but during the time offered by his brothers Sai had encased his hand in earth chakra making the punch four times as hard.

But while that would be enough to take a normal person out they knew that Gai was very far from normal. Their entire plan was too push Gai into a corner, give him no room to breathe, and then knock him down hard. So if that did not work well then they had a plan B.

Gai was okay alright and he could get up if he wanted to and still show these nine year olds why he was the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha. But right now his brain was still trying to come to terms with the fact that he had been beaten by three nine year olds with almost zero field experience.

'_Are they really this strong? Kami Kari-san was right when she said that these boys were going to be legends and history will say that I was their sensei.'_

Gai was truly proud of his team but he needed to make sure that they understood that he was still stronger than them, that way they can still want to learn a thing or two from their superior.

"Third Gate: Open"

Three hours later

Konoha hospital

"Well this brings back memories" said Sai

Sasuke scoffed "all that training and he still whopped our collective asses"

"Well we had him on the ropes for a while right?"

"No Sai Sasuke's right even after all that training and preparation Gai-sensei completely handed us our asses but that just means we have to train harder for next time"

"Indeed you do"

"Baa-chan, when did you get here?"

"A little while ago, I have to say Gai and I are very proud of you three to nearly beat an S-class Jounin at your ages is nothing short of incredible"

"Wait a minute Gai-sensei is an S-class Jounin?"

"Indeed he is Sasuke, did you think that I was playing when I said that he is just as strong as Kakashi who has of a few months ago was declared an S-class Nin?"

The truth finally sank in. For a total of one minute they had an S-class Jounin on the ropes. The proud smiles that spread across their faces were massive and very well deserved.

"Congratulations boys Gai told me that tomorrow he is going to request a C-rank mission for you boys as a gift for all your hard-work"

Yes life was good.

Hokage Tower

Kakashi was stumped and it was a feeling that he was not fond of. For the past two months someone or according to the reports something was randomly killing members of the Uchiha clan. The death toll at this point was 15 and though the clan was not small by any standards it was still a problem. Rubbing his temples in frustration he knew that the Uchiha were his biggest political supporter, his advisor was the head of the clan for cripes sake. Yet when they need him to step up and help them catch the killer all he had to tell them was "we are doing the best we can"

'_Of the entire BS that I have spun since I took this job this is the one that hurts the most. 15 dead in two months and we have no clue how the killer even chooses his victims let alone who the hell the guy or thing is.'_

"It's hard isn't it?"

Raising his head he saw the Sandaime entering his office, for the past two months the old man had aged a lifetime and Kakashi was not faring any better. He was in his twenties but sometimes he felt like he was 40 years old already.

"I can't even imagine what Fugaku is going through. These are his clansmen that are being slaughtered after all"

Taking a slow drag from his pipe Hiruzen said "everyone wants to lead but not everyone has what it takes."

Hardening his eyes he looked at Kakashi and said "This is the point where your leadership potential will be tested Kakashi. You need to show not just the Uchiha clan but the entire village that you have what it takes to lead"

"Shishou I can barely think this is…these are my villagers that are being killed like dogs. How am I supposed to lead when I don't know where to even start? Everyone is expecting me to have some master plan that will miraculously solve all these problems and the problems keep stacking. I still need to pull off my first Chunin exams amidst this madness. It was so much easier in ANBU all I had to do is follow orders not give them"

"I guess now you know that when they say "Heavy is the head that wears the crown" it was not just another excuse"

Kakashi fists tightened and the fire that made him an S-class Jounin lit up in his eyes "My daddy raised a solider and I survived a war at the age of thirteen. I refuse to let me people down I am the Hokage and damnit I am going to lead. No way am I going to let this get to me or my village"

The fire in his eyes revitalized the Sandaime "I knew you were true leader Kakashi. So Hokage-sama what's the plan?"

"Well first things first I am not going to let anyone explain how the village failed in taking care of its citizens so I am going to call a council meeting now. I am going to show **my **people that you can't explain defeat to someone who has never been beaten. Then we are going to join hands and solve this problem we are not about to let some psychopath make a fool of the strongest hidden village till date."

"Well let's get going Boss"

Ten minutes later

Council Room

Kakashi waited for everyone to come in and seat down but there was one person that had his attention right now. That was Uchiha Fugaku, his advisor and his friend, when he first met the leader of the Uchiha clan he was not expecting that they would get so close. But now he was easily someone that Kakashi would trust with his life. Fugaku looked like he was going through hell solo and the strain on his face cut Kakashi deeply but it was time to change that: friends were loyal to one another and it was time he showed his friend that loyalty.

When the council were called to a meeting they were expecting a lot of things but what they met was not it. Their Godaime Hokage looked like he was about to go to war and frankly the look in his eyes were scaring them. Thankfully the civilian did not have a rep yet otherwise they would have run out of the council room, fast.

"We have a village have a problem and it is way past time that we dealt with it. Members of our village, our brothers and sisters, are being slaughtered and nobody will leave this room until we have thoroughly addressed this issue. For the past two months we have buried 15 people that end **now **we are the head of this village and I will be damned if I let some crack-head take us for a fool.**"**

Shikaku raised an eyebrow at the level of emotion practically pouring out of their usually calm Hokage. He was not even bothering to hide the pain, rage and determination in his coal eye and his chakra was barely holding together. If anyone even so much as breathed wrong Shikaku was not entirely sure Kakashi would have mercy on them.

'_Troublesome he is making it seem as if it is his family that is being slaughtered'_

Shikaku was not the only one who had this opinion. It was the opinion shared by the entire room and seeing their cool Hokage this emotional over something that doesn't personally concern him drove home the severity of the situation and immediately everyone started to feel just as upset about this as he did.

Fugaku in the other could not help but feel an immense amount of gratitude to his leader; young he may be but Kakashi was a, as Tsume would say, true Alpha and Fugaku was grateful. Catching the culprit no longer seemed so difficult because he had a friend who had his back and as a village they would ensure that this killer was brought to justice.

"I need ideas people come on in the mean time I have ordered the flag of our village to fly at half-mast"

The sheer amount of shock that spread across the room would have been hilarious if the situation was different. Konoha had a flag that represented the Will of Fire and the village's dedication to fight for each other and the only time the flag had** ever **flown at half-mast was when the Hokage dies to fly it at half-mast just for a few dead people was not just unheard of it was unthinkable.

Shibi said as much "Hokage-sama the flag is the centre of our village's strength and moral it should not be lowered over sentiment"

"I do not do this over sentiment Shibi-sama someone is killing our people and I have seen the way our people are dealing with it. If you think that this problem will solve itself or that it are just 15 people from a large noble clan who will miss them? This is a national shame. The Will of Fire is the symbol of our loyalty to one another but when our people are dying we can wake up in the morning and just go about our daily business and be thankful that the killer already has a target. No not on my watch the Uchiha clan are not the ones losing members we are. Let me ask you something Shibi-sama when an enemy bug enters your colony and kills one of your own what the rest of your insects do does?"

"They join together to attack it"

"So what are we talking about here? Our people are dying, our people. It ends now"

In the shadows Tobi was not happy at all Kakashi had in one fell swoop destroyed his entire plan. Now even if Sora killed the entire clan Itachi and Sasuke can effectively say that the village had their back and turning them against the village then would be impossible.

'_Well played Kakashi no matter in one month when your precious village is attacked I will see to it personally that you die then this village will be mine. Oh well I have no more use for that brat anymore might as well kill him and be done with it'_

With Sora

"There that should do it" the nine year old pseudo-jinchuriki had just finished leaving the evidence of his crimes and the picture of the person he sees in his dreams right before he wakes up covered in blood. The reason for this was because he was done; people kept using him to do their dirty work because of the power that Orochimaru had deposited inside of him. Well that ends now he had already decided that if he couldn't take the masked man out of his head then he would take himself out of the masked man hands.

With that decision firmly made he sent off the messenger bird to Inoichi's house as well as a flea for forgiveness for not telling him sooner. A part of him wished that he could see him face to face one last time but no it was better this way. Taking a deep breath Sora decided that it was time he faced his demons by himself and he planned on going out with a bang

Walking toward one of the training grounds near Konoha to find a particular person just to tell her how he felt before he did right by the village. He needed to say goodbye to someone who had been nice to him even though he didn't deserve it.

"Hopefully she will forgive me too when she finds out the truth"

Taking a deep breath Sora walked into the training grounds where he had seen her training with her friends and called out "Ino-san"

Turning around the girls saw someone from their class, Sora wasn't it? What was he doing here looking for Ino?

Naturally Ino being Ino was very interested in the new guy besides Kurenai-sensei had given them the day off so they had some free-time

"Hey Sora-kun what's up?"

'_Damn I thought this would easier'_ "I just wanted to talk to you about something"

"Okay" slowly said Ino "what's up?"

Sora was visibly shaking like he was struggling to hold a lot of emotions inside of him not to mention he looked like he was blushing

'_Oh'_ thought Ino with a smirk _'it appears that I have a fan hmm how should I handle this I mean it is not his fault for falling for me; sometimes being this hot can be a curse oh well'_

"It is okay Sora-kun take your time" now Ino was trying to copy Kurenai's magical voice but while an older boy would just find it adorable Sora was a nine year old and his blush increased pleasing the hell out of the girl

Hinata was about to step in and caution Ino on embarrassing their new friend when the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. When you live in a house full of Hyuuga who hated your personality you develop a sixth sense for when someone was staring at you. Right now that sense was going haywire which means that there was someone here.

Hinata was not wrong Tobi had just arrived and when he saw where his pawn had gone he smiled _'Kakashi might have blocked my plan to destroy the Uchiha clan but perhaps the boy can take out two heiresses before he dies'. _Laughing Tobi turned his Sharingan on Sora and with his job done he left assured that the girls were as good as dead

"Ino-chan, Sakura-chan we are not alone here" just as the girls were about to ask what they meant Sora dropped to the ground in pain clutching his head

'_No not this again not now please'_ trying to push back the impulsion that he knew wanted him to kill Ino and her friends was causing his nose to bleed so he knew that it was only a matter of time before he lost control again

"Ino-chan, please take your friends and run I can't control myself"

Being the heiress of the Yamanaka clan Ino immediately knew that that meant someone, whoever Hinata had sensed, was controlling Sora and was going to use him to kill them. She knew that she was in-charge of this team when Kurenai was not around and she should run but looking at Sora fight to buy them time to run she made her choice

"Let go Sora-kun"

Three sets of eyes looked at her like she had taken a pack of crazy pills, when someone who was exuding the amount of chakra that Sora was exuding you do not stick around for him to unleash it on you

"Please Ino-chan if I hurt you I would hate myself forever"

Ino set herself and looked Sora in the eye "let go Sora-kun you won't kill me I am stronger than you think so let go"

Sora looked at her and saw exactly what she was telling him. She knew that killing him was the only option left and she had accepted to give him a fighter's death even if he hurt her in the process.

"Thank you Ino-chan"

"You are welcome Sora-kun"

Knowing that a fight was the only option the girls set themselves and Sora…let go

The first thing that happened was that the girls suddenly became very grateful for Anko's sadistic training; the woman was fond of throwing sharp objects at them at random points and when they asked why she just said

"I want to taste your precious blood"

It was thanks to two months of that that they were able to dodge the punch that Sora levelled at them when they regained their bearings they saw that Sora's entire form was covered in red chakra and his right arm was blazing purple.

Sakura knew that while Ino was the team leader she was in-charge of coming up with a strategy for beating this guy but that became difficult when Sora's KI struck them in full force. Hinata was already close to fainting and Sakura herself was not far behind but Ino was calm

"Girls Sora-kun is suffering right now and he needs us to release him from his prison so focus. Hinata you and I are going to attack him and keep him off Sakura while we do that Sakura I need you to observe him and the second that you think that you see an opening ensnare him it will distract him long enough for either Hinata or I to take him out"

Ino's confidence gave her team the strength they needed to get their head in the game. That was all the chance they had unfortunately because they had to scatter to avoid another fast punch from Sora but this time as they jumped away a red arm grew out of Sora's body and hurled towards Hinata

Hinata knew that this technique was far from finished but when your life is on the line that is when you learn about yourself so with speeds she did not know she had Hinata defended herself

"Eight Trigrams: Star Strike"

Seeing an opportunity Ino also went through hand-signs for a technique that she only just learnt speeding towards Sora she said

"Water Style: Water Dome"

Trapping Sora in a water sphere lasted for about two seconds before the pseudo-jinchuriki used a bloody chakra release to blow the dome away. The release stunned Ino for about three seconds allowing Sora to grab her by the arm and slam her into the ground hard

"Ino" shouted Hinata until her form exploded and a shattered log took its place

"That was close" said Ino who was okay if not for the bruised arm that Sora had grabbed "so we can't physically touch him great nothing like the easy stuff"

"Ino-chan, please don't joke" said Hinata two seconds before Sora struck the area where she…was?

When the crazy jinchuriki saw another log he roared in rage at his prey slipping away for the second time

"Hinata remember the 'Snake Hunt'?"

Hinata turned to face Ino in confusion until she remembered

Flashback

_Anko stood in front her new favourite girls with her usual sadistic grin on her face the image was worsened when two snakes came out of her sleeves _

"_Alright squirts today we are going to have a fun adventure called the Snake Hunt. What that means is that I am going to summon five snakes and you have to kill them without letting them bite you"_

_Then without any warning five horse sized snakes poofed into existence and charged the girls_

Flashback end

Hinata smiled "Ah I remember"

"Good let's go"

"Hai"

This time the girls charged with Ino in front and Hinata a step behind. Sora roared and joined them in middle with the intention of using his demonic arm to slash them in half but blazing through hand-signs Ino said

"Fire Style: Fireball"

The fire was pitiful but she shot it five inches from Sora's face forcing him to jump back on instinct and right into Hinata

"Eight Trigrams: Star Strike"

The blow caused Sora to stumble for a split second away from Hinata who was exhausted from using that technique twice in a row

"Hell's Viewing Jutsu"

The genjustu caused Sora's chakra cloak to falter for two seconds allowing Ino to dash at him and run a kunai into his heart.

"Thank you Ino-chan" and with that Sora died leaving the girls feeling bitter and dirty except Ino who just felt numb as she stared at the dead body in front of her.

She knew that the only reason why they were able to beat Sora was because he was holding himself back since she knew that they were nowhere near strong enough to take him on at full-blast.

"Ino-chan we have to find Kurenai-sensei and tell her what happened"

"Hinata is right Ino we have to report this"

The girls were worried because Ino did not give any indication that she even heard them. They knew that in this line of work they would have to get their hands bloody but they did not think that it would happen this fast

"Promise me something" said Ino with a dead tone

"Anything"

Raising her eyes she looked at them with a determination that they have never seen before in her "promise me that we will never stop growing stronger not because of boys anymore but for us"

"We promise" said Hinata and Sakura

It was the beginning of a legendary female squad

**Author note: So that is wrap for this chapter I promise that Naruto's mission will come out next chapter. So tell me what you all think about this one; suggestions, questions, compliments they are all desired.**

**Jutsu list:**

**Earth Style: Demon Spikes**

**It is an A-rank earth technique that creates out large and thin spikes out of the ground and sends them at their target at blinding speeds**

**Earth Style: Rock Bullets**

**It is an S-rank technique that uses hard rock instead of normal earth to create bullets that fire in a tight circle**

**Fire Style: Raging Furnace**

**It is an S-rank technique that combines wind and fire natures to form a white hot flame capable of destroying the surrounding around it by just being there**

**Eight Trigrams: Star Strike**

**It is a B-rank technique that strikes five points in the chakra network; head, stomach, arms and thighs causing them to fluctuate. It can also double as a means to disrupt any technique that is B-rank and below.**

**See you all next chapter,**

**Dante out**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

_Heavy is the Head that Wears the Crown Pt. 2_

"_Congratulations boys Gai told me that tomorrow he is going to request a C-rank mission for you boys as a gift for all your hard-work"_

_Yes life was good._

Correction life was not good. This morning the boys had run all the way to the Hokage's office for their super C rank mission. In their minds they were picturing guarding a royal against rebel forces or stealing a highly guarded item from behind enemy lines or even bringing the joys of Ramen to a starving people [three guesses who wanted this]

"You want us to deliver a message to Kusa?" asked Naruto who was still trying to process the sheer stupidity of the mission hoping that he would be proven wrong

"Yes I do" replied Kakashi. After the incident yesterday Kakashi was just happy to go back to his favourite pastime; annoying the Sozen trio. Hopefully Kurenai and Anko will help another nine year old trio get their lives back. Anyway back to the stupefied looks in front of him Kakashi eye-smiled and decided to add firewood to fire

"You see every once in a while Konoha sends a list of goods that we have for sale to various small villages as well as the discounts that each goods have. It is a market strategy but it also encourages relations between our villages and maintains Konoha's image as a nice village"

Twitching in anger Sasuke said "so basically we are highly paid messengers"

"Exactly Sasuke-kun and as such you may be called on to explain the terms of the agreement to the Kusa delegates"

Naruto did not know why he was still talking; perhaps he was still hoping that if they stayed here long enough the mission scroll would change or combust

"So Gai-sensei…"

"Oh Gai won't be accompanying you on this mission he was called away on 'important' business"

At this point Naruto lost it "That is bull you just want us to do this stupid mission on our own"

Kakashi however was at this point a master at spinning BS stories and still getting people to do what he wants "So you are saying that you are denying the opportunity to take on a mission on your own something no other Genin team has ever done because you don't feel like you can"

"What we are not saying that ttebayo"

"So you are strong enough to do this on your own then"

"Hell yeah"

"Excellent Naruto here is the mission scroll, now have fun come back soon" said Kakashi

Kyuubi shook his head; his vessel was a lot of things but sharp was not one of them, which frankly is embarrassing I mean he was the King of Foxes and yet his vessel possessed absolutely zero manipulation skills. The dumb brat would probably not know cunning if it bit him in the ass.

"You tricked us" shouted an irate Naruto

"**No shit"**

Kakashi simply smiled and shooed them out of his office.

"I can't believe we are going to be glorified messengers" said Sasuke

"Although…"

"Sai I swear if you find a way to make this mission a good thing I will bathe you in fish oil" said Naruto

"I will be quiet" little known fact Sai absolutely hated fish

And with that the boys were off to go and pack for their mission to Kusa. Unknown to them their enemies will in no way ignore this golden opportunity to destroy them. The mission will be simple alright but it will also be the birth of a legendary team, if they survive that is.

Meanwhile with another trio

Sakura was worried. Yesterday Ino had made her first kill and she had changed. Before it was Ino that was the light of their team but now all she did was stare into space with a dead look in her eyes. She knew that Ino blamed herself for what happened; if she was a better mind-walker then she would have been able to help Sora without killing him. Nothing she, Hinata and Kurenai said had brought her out of her current funk and Anko was away yesterday so she was not able to pitch in.

Thinking about her second sensei Sakura knew that Anko was the only one Ino really bonded with. Anko was Ino's big sister and role model same with Kurenai and Hinata. She was happy that her friends had such great role models, even though Anko was a few screws shy of demented, it sometimes made her wonder if she would have her own personal role model; a medic with a bad temper.

Somewhere a certain blonde sneezed heavily causing her boobs to shake a bit and considering what she was wearing as a top more than a few men got nosebleeds from the view they just enjoyed; that is before the blonde beat the stuffing out of them of course but as they say no pain no gain.

Shaking off the feeling that she had somehow caused trouble for a few people Sakura went back to wondering where Anko was, the faster Anko got Ino out of her funk the faster she could have her best friend back

"So a little birdie told me one of you girls got wet yesterday" speak of the psycho and she will appear

"Morning Anko-sensei" said Hinata

"Morning squirts" replied Anko but Ino was still blank-faced that is before Anko grabbed her in a massive hug "oh my precious chickadee got wet yesterday"

The sheer amount of pride rolling of Anko pissed Ino off to the point that she forced her way out of Anko's grip and screamed at her with hot tears running down her face

"HOW COULD YOU BE SO CALLOUS AND CRUEL? SOMEOENE IS DEAD BECAUSE OF ME AND YOU ARE HAPPY?!"

"Why of course I am happy. Why, am I supposed to be sad?"

Shaking with rage now Ino charged Anko and attacked her screaming all the way

"HIS NAME WAS SORA AND HE WAS A PERSON. DO YOU HAVE ANY HEART? A BOY MY AGE IS DEAD"

"Again why should I feel sad?"

"BECAUSE HE WAS INNOCENT HE DID NOT DESERVE TO DIE YOU CRAZY BITCH"

"And Hinata does?"

The comment stopped Ino dead in her tracks "that is not what I..."

"Does Sakura?"

"I…STOP TWISTING MY WORDS"

"How am I twisting your words? Sora is dead and you killed him while protecting your friends, so?"

"That's…that's…YOU ARE MAKING IT SEEM TRIVIAL"

"Oh so I should be devastated that Konoha has a fresh grave? Yeah I got better things to do"

At this point Ino was on the ground crying "it is my fault"

"Yes you are the one that drove the kunai through him at the first chance you got, knowing full well what that would do to him. I still don't see how this is supposed to be epic"

"I can't stop seeing him lying dead in front of me"

"His last words were: Thank you Ino-chan. He was okay with dying so why are you giving yourself a migraine over it"

Getting her fire back Ino screamed "HOW IS I SUPPOSED TO FEEL?"

"Grateful, how many times have you heard of people thanking someone for killing them. I mean if you feel this way now then what happens when you are given an assassination mission; you will commit suicide because life is hard."

"What would you have me do?"

"Realize that in our line of work the numbers of bodies you will drop will never stopping increasing and if you don't think that you can live with that then you can quit and spare your team the pain of burying their teammate when you die tragically because you couldn't take it"

"So what I should be happy every time I kill someone?"

"Why do you think every shinobi in this village is crazy on some levels? Everyone develops a way to cope with the killing and we in Konoha know that having friends and family help you retain your humanity. Everybody has a demon inside them Ino and your survival as a shinobi depends on your ability to use and control the demon inside you"

Finally understanding Ino stopped crying and stood up "thanks Anko-sensei"

The girls sighed in relief.

"Good to have you back Chickadee"

Back with Naruto

Naruto was pissed. While this was a statement that might seem common the object of his rage was not. The trio had arrived at the gate to sign out and fill the necessary paperwork for a C rank mission with the gate guards: Kotesu and Izumo. This was standard procedure and the fact that they were going to be doing this mission on their own was a bonus in their files.

So what was the problem you ask? The two gate guards had taken one look at their mission scroll and had permanent grins on their faces and they took every opportunity to make side comments about how they were doing a great service to Konoha. The last comment they made when the paperwork was done nearly sent Naruto over the edge.

"Okay that is all good luck on your mission Team 7. Your service to this great village is going to be known to all I promise. After all no one else can do a mission of such high priority without supervision it will look excellent on your public image. Prodigy Delivery Ninja we salute you."

If Naruto squeezed his fists any harder they would surely bleed but just before he could take violent action against the two Chunin in front of him something worse happened. He smiled.

"I will see you soon"

After he left Izumo turned to his friend and said "why does it sound evil when he says it?"

"I don't know Izumo maybe he was just messing around"

"That smile was scary Kotesu. You think we took our teasing too far?"

"No it was harmless"

Oh if only they knew Naruto may not have the cunning and manipulation skills worthy of being the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi but that did not mean he did not have other…talents.

Four days later

"Thank Kami our job is done" said Sasuke

"Amen brother" said Naruto

"Oh come on it was not that bad" commented Sai causing his brothers to look at him like he was crazy which is unfortunately not uncommon

"Sai you want to tell me what twisted logical reason you have for thinking that that mission was not bad" said Sasuke who was honestly a reason away from having his brother committed

"Well first of nothing went wrong. We arrived gave them the missive, answered a couple of their questions and now we are going home."

"Yeah except you forgot to mention how hostile they were to us, throw in the fact that they kept trying to make us stay longer with stupid questions ttebayo"

"Now there is no such thing as a stupid question"

"They asked us if our civilian shops had a colour code" said Sasuke "How is that not a stupid question?"

"They needed to know how village regulations besides colours speak a language on their own"

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other as if deciding whether or not their collective patience levels could take talking to Sai anymore and if they should knock him out for the reminder of the journey back. Fortunately for Sai before they decided to knock him out Kyuubi sensed something hauling ass to their location.

"**Gaki forget about your brother you got company and they are not small fry by any means"**

Naruto immediately stiffened and so did Sai and Sasuke "Kyuubi said that we have company heading our way"

"How many are they?" asked Sai

"**Six from the east and another six coming from the north, brat judging from their chakra signatures they are at least Jounin level"**

When Naruto relayed the information to his brothers Sasuke groaned "nothing like the easy stuff"

"I never thought I would say this but I wish Gai-sensei was here" said Sai "guess fate decided it was too long since we had to fight off an assassination"

Naruto on the other hand was quiet. Gai-sensei was not here so the safety of his team was his responsibility but this was not anything like what he could handle. How was he supposed to lead his team against twelve unknown Jounin who if their history was anything to go by wanted them dead?

'_Kyu how far away are they?'_

"**The group coming the east will be here in ten minutes and the group form the north will show up five minutes after them"**

Fear was starting to set in before they only had to face a couple of opponents but now…Naruto was already beginning to hyperventilate and his knees went weak causing to him to fall to the ground

Sai and Sasuke immediately rushed to his side and they were saying something but Naruto could not hear them. His heart was pounding so loudly that he could not hear anything. Suddenly everything disappeared and all he could see was images of twelve people with blood red eyes and his inability to stop them from killing his brothers. At this point tears had started running down Naruto's face because he knew that it would be his fault. In fifteen minutes his team would be dead and it would be his fault.

_"This world will break you or change you in ways you would never imagine, and if you're going to be Hokage then you need to find something to believe in and stick to it. The will of fire is what all the past Hokages and the Shinobi of Konoha hold on to; it is simply seeing the village as your own family and drawing strength from the knowledge that the entire village is counting on you and looking to you to protect them and after the way that they have treated you Naruto you have every right to hate this village, but if you wish to lead them then you must love them and draw strength from that love as you grow older you will get stronger in your heart but the basic fact is that you must love them. So Naruto do you want to be the best Shinobi, the Hokage or do you wish to be a mediocre Shinobi?"_

Just when he was about to give up that memory came to him. He all of a sudden remembered when Kari had explained the path of being a shinobi of Konoha and the path to being Hokage. Back then he had promised to be the best shinobi that he could be, he had promised that he would be Hokage and a Hokage never gives up. He was a leader and he will be damned if he allowed his grandmother bury her grandchildren who went on their first C rank mission. If these punks wanted a fight then he would give them a fight.

The next second everything cleared up and Naruto stood up _'Kyu how much time do we have left?'_

"**Six minutes"**

"Oi dobe what the hell happened to you?"

"I was scared but I am not anymore we have six minutes to make these punks regret the day that they ever messed with us"

Sasuke shook his head "and you call me dramatic"

Six minutes later

Six ROOT Nin landed in an empty clearing where their targets were just a few minutes ago. Now as ROOT they were not capable of feeling and so the sixth sense that experienced Shinobi had was absent in them. If it was they would have noticed that the clearing was too quiet but the only thing that they noticed was that the clearing was empty and that they need to move on.

Then out of nowhere a giant bird dove towards them causing them to scatter into three groups of two, just what Naruto had hoped they would do. The trio spilt up and dashed towards their choice of targets. The plan for this set of Jounin was simple: distract them with wide attacks, force them into a corner then take them out hard and fast. When it came to distractions that used only a bit of chakra no one did it better than Sai.

Instantly a pack of what had to be classified as werewolves struck once again pushing the ROOT Nin further away from each other. At this point they needed to make their enemies think that they were splitting up to attack. And of course like drones wired to act in a specific way the ROOT sped to reach each other in order to have the numbers advantage. It was time to force them into a corner.

"Earth Style: Earth Dragon"

A massive dragon rose from the ground but instead of dashing towards them it opened its mouth and shot mud bullets at the ROOT Nin which they dodged by collectively jumping into the air. Unfortunately once again this was a standard move which no normal shinobi would have used in the exact same situation. And this is why.

"Rasengan"

"Raikiri"

Naruto and Sasuke appeared in front of four of the six and with both hands encased in their favourite techniques they struck, fast and hard taking the four out of the fight. Unfortunately for them they miscalculated just how cold-hearted these Nin were. The remaining two ROOT operatives went through hand signs at blinding speeds and before Naruto or Sasuke could get out of the way they struck.

"Fire Style: Flower Phoenix Jutsu"

"Lightning Style: Electronic Murder"

The boys were not able to avoid the techniques due to their inexperience thankfully Sai had their backs.

"Earth Style: Rock Wall"

The rock wall sprung up between Naruto and Sasuke blocking the flaming bullets and cancelling the lightning blast giving them the chance to get their heads back in the game and once again the boys disappeared into the foliage. The remaining ROOT Nin stood back to back with their tanto drawn scanning the area because what the boys did not know was that they had killed the only sensor in their squad so they had to resort to standard practices to find their targets. Once again they made the mistake of using standard shinobi tactics against a team that was trained by Sozen Kari and Maito Gai and was led by the son of Konoha's Prank Queen.

"Taijuu Kaze Bushin no Jutsu"

Swarms of clones stormed after the duo of ROOT Nin whom made short work of them but they had effectively dispelled over a hundred wind clones and while their forms were gone the area and their bodies were now soaked in wind chakra. Oops

"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu"

They attempted to jump away but they found their legs held firm by Sai's mud clones. If they were capable of feeling emotions their last thought would have been "oh shit"

BOOM!

"**They are dead unfortunately you won't get the rest you were expecting because the second team is 40 seconds out. Killing these ones took too long and the second team sped up and they are not as tired as you hoped" **said Kyuubi

"The second team is 40 seconds out and if they are not ROOT then we have to use plan B" said Naruto who was trying with all his might to ignore the bodies littered around the clearing especially the still burning corpses.

"I hate plan B" said Sasuke

"Well it is all we got" said Naruto who knew that Sasuke was trying to make conversation to avoid thinking about what was right in front of them "Also plan B is awesome you are just jealous of my amazing thinking skills"

"You and thinking are two words that should never be used in the same sentence dobe"

Naruto fake-glared at him "says the guy who came up with plan Tora"

"That plan would have saved us and every other Genin team from chasing after that demonic cat"

"True but that would be after the Daimyo skins the Hokage for making him deal with his psychotic wife when she turns her hugging on him" said Sai

"**They are here"**

"Game time" said Naruto

The team that landed in the clearing were wearing black robes with full face masks that covered everything but their eyes and it was those eyes that told the boys that they were in deep shit: their eyes were pitch black.

Knowing that hiding from these kinds of enemies was pointless the boys landed in front of them. The leader stepped forward to address them

"My name is Ichi my master sent me to take all three of you to him. Come peacefully and you will not be harmed, resist and we will take you by force. The previous demons that you faced were D class level demons we are C class. You do not stand a chance so surrender"

Naruto knew that what he told them to do was logical. They knew absolutely nothing about these guys except that they were stronger than Koharu and Homaru and they did not want them dead just captured. However Naruto was not a logical person as instead of considering the risks he was instead picturing his Baa-chan's face when he tells them of how they beat six C class level demons all on their own.

"Alright plan B it is"

The demons wore masks with different numbers on them: Ichi, Nii, San, Yon, Go, and Roku. Plan B was to split up and attack them individually. This time it won't be faked they would really be taking on two each.

Naruto drew Arashi and got into his stance "I will take Ichi and Nii, Sasuke you get San and Yon, Sai you take Go and Roku"

"Hai"

"Let's do this dobe"

Ichi titled his head and said "resistance is futile while we were asked to bring you in alive our master commanded us to kill you if you prove to be too much trouble so I will say it again: surrender and you will not be harmed"

"Here let me answer that" said Naruto "Wind Style: Hurricane"

A violent hurricane rushed out of Naruto's arm and grew to a massive size and launched itself at the demons forcing them to scatter into different locations. And just like that the fight was on and from here on out it will be to the death.

Naruto vs. Ichi and Nii

Ichi and Nii went through hand signs as well for techniques that Naruto knew so he immediately worked up a counter

"Fire Style: Hell's Breath" said Ichi

"Lightning Style: Thunder Clap" said Nii

"Wind Style: Violent Defence" said Naruto.

"**It seems that you picked opponents with fire and lightning based attacks…interesting"**

'_Hai the lightning I can handle but Ichi will be a problem and if these guys are like Homaru then they can intensify their attacks by a lot not to mention they can do this all day. My fire is hot but not hot enough to deal with demonic fire I have to find another way'_

Sasuke vs. San and Yon

Sasuke decided to first test the waters and see just these guys could do because while they knew only a little about demons they knew that they were one-trick ponies so he just had find out what the trick was

"Lightning Style: Bolt"

"Water Style: Water Encampment Wall" said San but before Sasuke could celebrate being faced with an element that was weaker than his. Yon responded as well.

His sharingan was the only thing that saved him from Yon's knee strike that would made him severely dizzy unfortunately Yon immediately followed it up with a series of kicks and punches that Sasuke's sharingan could barely keep up with and it was only the fact that his sensei was fast as well that helped Sasuke's reaction time

"Lightning Style: Lightning Field"

The field forced Yon back to San's side allowing Sasuke space to breathe

'_So water and speed huh this should be fun'_

Wrong it was not fun not one bit. Sasuke found out the hard way that Yon was too fast to catch and when he was close to getting him San would defend him with a nasty water jutsu, and if he tried to take San out the Yon would attack him viciously. It was only his sharingan and his reflexes that were preventing him from getting hit so far.

"Water Style: Ice Dragon"

"Lightning Style: Lightning Dome"

'_I need to find a way out of this and fast'_

"Uchiha-san" said Yon "You are no match for us it would be wise to give up before we kill you"

"Yeah thanks but no thanks"

'_San has zero close range skills and Yon has zero long range skills if I can separate them then I have a shot'_

Instincts forced Sasuke to put his arms up just in time to block a kick from Yon followed by a drop-kick which he also blocked. Sasuke would have used the precious seconds to trap Yon in a genjutsu but Yon had refused to look him in the eye. Deciding to make the most of a bad situation Sasuke tried to draw Yamato and slice Yon and San as always came to the rescue

"Water Style: Water Bullets"

Just what Sasuke had been hoping for because while he could not trap Yon in a genjutsu the same could not be said of San. It took a bit of work but Sasuke was able to trick San into striking Yon with the water bullets giving Sasuke ten seconds to do something.

Sasuke teleported himself above San within the first three seconds; six seconds to form a giant Raikiri and with only a second left Sasuke slammed it into San's head. Completely destroying the upper part of San's body but by then Yon had recovered and struck him hard in the ribs sending him sailing into a tree. But the damage was already done and even though San's body regrew his power would now be diverted into healing him making his attacks weaker and since Sasuke had the elemental advantage it gave him a fighting chance

Sai vs. Go and Roku

Sai was annoyed. Go somehow had the ability to manipulate sand evidence from the fact that when he had sent a swarm of crows at them; the birds hit a wall of sand that after crushing his onslaught sent bullets at him. Dodging the projectile was not a problem his annoyance came from the fact that apparently a C class level demon could use sand so easily while he was barely able to and he couldn't ask him how he did that.

When that was over Sai noticed that Roku had disappeared thankfully though sneak attacks was something that he was used to. Hence why when his instincts forced him to jump left he did not hesitate

"Scream"

Even though he had avoided Roku's attack Sai's ears were still affected by the sonic waves causing his balance to shift. Thankfully before the sand hand that Go made could wrap itself around him he recovered and teleported away.

"I suppose there is no way you two could tell me exactly how you can use sand and sound?"

Dead silence

"I guess not"

"Sand Storm"

"Shit"

Naruto vs. Ichi and Nii

Naruto knew that a jutsu fight with two C class demons would be just plain stupid even with his reserves these two could very well match it and more. Kenjutsu and taijutsu was also out if he was taller his chances would be higher but as it stands he did not have the height to use his skill-set fully not to mention that unlike Homaru these guys could move almost as quickly as he could.

The only chance he had was to use his trap skills and Shadow clones to distract them while he designed a seal to destroy them. Judging from the multiple bombings and the memories he was receiving he knew that his opponents were nothing to laugh at. All the traps had barely touched them and they were not even using their demon strength which meant that if they did he could lose.

'_I take back every bad thing I said about Baa-chan: for making me know how to draw seals quickly and perfectly. These guys are not kidding around whatsoever. Okay that should do it'_

Not a second too soon because just then Ichi and Nii landed in the clearing without so much as a scratch and judging from the state the forest around them that was damn impressive. Once they landed though Naruto activated the seal

"Fuin: Crucible"

The seal was designed to lock onto anything in it and slowly drain the life out of it completely but the will of the seal depended on the user. If the user's will was weaker than what was in the seal then they could escape or turn the seal on the user. Naruto knew that he needed to be fully devoted to this and if his family could agree on one thing it was that he was stubborn to a fault. Ichi however had an ace up his sleeve and Naruto would not like it one bit.

"It appears I was right Uzumaki-san you are strong however if you refuse to come with us then a village twenty miles north of here will perish"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock "You are lying there is no way that you can kill them you are trapped"

"I am a demon Uzumaki-san and one thing that C class demons can do is make deals with weak people. I promised them protection and prosperity if they swore allegiance to me and they did"

Naruto refused to believe it "No there is no way that something like that could happen"

Ichi titled his head then his chest opened up and out of the darkness inside it fifty ghostly faces sprung forth "here they are men, women and children whose lives are bound to me and they will all perish if you don't release me right now"

Dead silence filled the clearing as Ichi's words sank into Naruto's mind with painful clarity: if Naruto continued with this plan then he would be responsible for the death of fifty innocent people. Naruto's fists clenched in rage and his eyes went red

"You sick bastard"

"On the contrary Uzumaki-san all I did was grant them protection from bandits and a bountiful harvest it is however up to you if they will enjoy that harvest. So what will it be Uzumaki-san? Will you out of spite condemn fifty people to death?"

"**You can't let him go" **said Kyuubi

'_You heard him Kyu I have no choice but to let him go. I can't let fifty innocent people die not if I can help it'_

"**Brat I am telling you that you can't let him go because if you do then he will take you and Sasuke and Sai"**

'_Did you not hear me I don't have a choice. I am letting him go Sasuke and Sai will understand'_

"**Should that not be their choice? What about the people who trusted the lives of your brothers to you: Kari, Gai, Anko, and Sasuke's family will they understand?"**

Naruto's will was wavering allowing the demons trapped in the circle to start to fight back _'Kyu I can't condemn fifty people to death'_

"**If all of you die right now do you think that that village will be spared? Ichi will kill them either way and if you all die then what stops the start of a Fourth Shinobi World War?"**

'_We are not that important Kyu the village will move on'_

"**The heirs of the Sozen clan, the Uchiha clan head's second son and the village Jinchuriki not to mention that the three of you were sent on a C class mission to Kusa. If you don't come back who do you think Konoha will blame? Fifty people who offered their soul to a demon or your precious people"**

Just as the seal was about to break because of Naruto's wavering will it sprang up again tighter than ever. Naruto's eye zeroed in on Ichi causing the demon to flinch

"If you think that I am going to let you get away with this then you don't know me at all. You will pay for what you did: in full"

The seal started to glow and then there was a flash of light. After dropping the seal Naruto saw that the ground was black when he went to inspect it though black smoke shot out of the ground and went straight into his mouth.

Naruto dropped to the ground in pain; his insides felt like they were burning and his chakra coils right along with them. For ten agonizing minutes Naruto was on the ground silently screaming in pain. When that passed the next thing he knew was sweet relief as if someone had poured cool water on his injuries.

'_Kyu what happened?'_

"**It appears that the demonic essence of Ichi and Nii was transferred to you"**

'_What does that mean and why did not happen when Homaru died?'_

"**Apparently the essence inside D class demons is not strong enough to be transferred but Ichi and Nii were C class so when you killed them their essence was transferred to you"**

'_So that was why it felt like I was dying my body was absorbing demonic essence but what did it do to me?'_

"**Well from what I can sense it seems that it just augmented your body; your senses, strength, speed, healing, and your chakra coils are more potent. They are no way as potent as mine but it seems it should rival the white chakra that Kakashi's father was so infamous for, but Naruto it has a cost"**

'_Great'_ thought Naruto sarcastically _'what is the cost?'_

"**You lost a piece of your human soul. The way I see it the more demons, especially the ones that are C class and above, you kill a piece of your soul darkens forever."**

'_So in theory if I kill enough demons I will seize to become human?'_

"**Yes"**

'_Then that is a price I am willing to pay I deserve it for the village that is now dead because of me. After I make sure that Sasuke and Sai are okay I will head to the village the least I can do is give them a proper burial'_

Kyuubi fell silent they both knew that it was the right call but that did not remove the fact that fifty people were now dead. Although if Kyuubi was honest with himself he was responsible for the death of far more than fifty humans

Naruto found Sasuke first who was just getting off the ground and his eyes were bleeding not to mention there was a black flame burning across from him

"Uh Sasuke since when can you make black flames?" asked Naruto

"Since I got these" answered Sasuke who opened his eyes allowing Naruto to see his new sharingan. It was a red star-shaped iris on a black background.

"Sasuke is that what I think it is?" asked a stunned Naruto

If Sasuke had the will he would have smirked instead he just said "yes this is the Mangekeyou Sharingan"

"How did you activate it? I thought you could only attain it after you killed someone close to you"

"Kakashi told me of different way. He said that with enough chakra and willpower you can bypass that method and unlock the Mangekeyou Sharingan. I did not want to unlock it before because of the fact that using it will cost me my eyesight but I did not have a choice"

Naruto scoffed "that seems to be the theme of the day"

"**Brat tell Sasuke that the demonic essence in him nullifies the cost of the Mangekeyou he can use it all he wants"**

"Let's find Sai there is something that I need to tell both of you"

"I think I already know. We have demon essence inside of us and it comes at a cost"

"Tch nobody likes a smart-aleck but yes according to Kyu it strengthens our abilities and he said that you can use your Mangekeyou without worrying about losing your eyesight. But the cost is that with every demonic essence we consume we lose a piece of our human soul and if we consume enough we seize to be human."

"Well isn't that nice"

Naruto rolled his eyes at the sarcastic reply then changed the subject the village could wait until they found Sai "So you used those black flames to kill San and Yon"

"Just Yon I managed to get a lucky shot at San and took him out"

"But if it was just one on one then why did you not have a choice?"

"When San's essence entered my body it was hell I had to do something fast because Yon unlocked his demon powers and would have beheaded me. Kakashi theorised that it would take a few minutes to unlock the Mangekeyou but I guess the essence inside me sped up the process"

"So how did you summon the black flames?"

"Amaterasu is one of the techniques that my father told me the Mangekeyou could create and I wanted something that will kill Yon fast although I think the stress of using it seconds after unlocking the eye is what caused it to bleed"

"Makes sense"

Just as they entered the area where Sai had gone they noticed that the place looked like a sand demon had died there or something. There was sand everywhere and I mean everywhere

"Okay this makes no sense" said Naruto

**Author's note: This chapter goes out to all my beloved readers who are following this story and to those who chose this story as a favourite or reviewed I adore you all. Next chapter will be Sai's fight. Don't forget to review and fav/follow it inspires me to write faster. This chapter is also celebrating the fact that Storm Blade Rebellion has passed the 200 mark for favourites thanks to all my wonderful readers.**

**Coming soon: Rise of the Sarutobi clan**

**P.S. Sasuke's Mangekeyou Sharingan comes at a price and has its own set of drawbacks that will be explained next chapter. Naruto will also develop a bloodline that will match Sasuke's sharingan. The boys are still kids so they will not be super strong or wise or smart I don't do fast growth. I will however promise a steady growth from where they are now to epic strengths later on.**

**See you all next chapter,**

**Dante out**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

When Naruto and Sasuke found their missing brother he was in the centre of a large sand pit. His ears were bleeding heavily though which was weird. At the moment it seemed like he was content to just lie on the ground.

"Oi Sai what the hell happened?" asked Naruto in a decibel that was too high for Sai to handle

"Damn it Naruto are you trying to kill me?"

"What are you talking about? You look like you faced a sound demon or something"

"If you know I faced a sound demon then why are you talking so loud?"

Naruto and Sasuke shared a look: while Naruto was known to be loud sometimes at this point his voice was low not to mention that Force Edge should have healed him up by now, but if his ears were still ringing then that could only mean one thing.

"The demon screamed in your ears didn't he?" asked Sasuke

Flashback

_Sai was getting tired of the dodging sand projectiles and banshee screams. On normal day the ability to turn sound into a weapon would have fascinated him. Not so right now especially since his ringing ears had started to affect his balance which was critical in a fight like this where one wrong move would mean his death._

_From what he could tell Roku had the ability to not just project a scream that could damage his ears but he could also cancel out any sound of his own movements making him a very stealthy opponent but his hand to hand combat skills were abysmal. Which was why any time he attempted to take him out Go would intercept him._

_Perhaps it was Naruto's recklessness that was rubbing off on him but he suddenly had an idea. If he could somehow block Go's line of sight then he could make a mad dash for Roku, scream be damned, and take him out. _

"_You will soon fall I suggest you give up ningen" said Go_

"_Yeah right after Gai turns mute" replied Sai who quickly went through hand signs 'I hope this works'_

"_Earth Style: Great Rock Dragon"_

_A vicious rock dragon was unleashed from the earth roaring in rage and within a spilt second charged Go fully intent on annihilating him. A quick pulse of chakra revealed Roku's location and Sai charged him._

_Two seconds later Sai arrived at his location then jumping high Sai dove at his target who immediately screamed at him. Sai completely ignored the pain in his ears and with Force Edge drawn he dropped _

"_Rhino Drop"_

_The resulting crash caused a very large crater to occur with a proud ten year old in the middle of it. Somehow Sai could see why Naruto was so reckless in battle sometimes. The feeling of pouring all your emotions into an attack and winning was exhilarating and it was with that same feeling that he turned to face Go who was injured and speaking_

"_I don't speak loser so I am just going to assume you said 'please forgive me Sai-sama your awesomeness is too much for me'" _

_Sai then smirked in Sasuke fashion when Go tried to summon a sand storm to take him out_

"_Don't blink" six hand signs later Sai said "Earth Style: Rock Spikes"_

_The spikes struck Go in the chest killing him instantly after that Sai passed out _

Flashback end

Naruto and Sasuke shared a look that practically screamed 'he did my thing'

"I suppose my hypothesis on your behaviours was accurate. They do have their uses after all" said Sai

"Why does it sound like he just insulted us?" asked Naruto

"Tch typical Sai"

Shaking his head Naruto decided that he had enough on his plate already without having to rack his brain on what the hell Sai was talking about. Thinking about those things brought his mood down again.

"Okay dobe what the hell is wrong with you? We just took out two groups of Jounin-level shinobi and won. Why are you acting like we lost?" asked Sasuke who was getting pissed off at his brother's attitude. They had just done something that will make Itachi's mission records look like child's play but he could not take pride in that because of Naruto's mood. Not to mention that he had just unlocked the Mangekeyou and Sai had developed the ability to use rocks and knowing Sai it won't long before he can use sand too.

"Sasuke is right Naruto you do not look good"

"Let's go there is a town twenty miles north of here that I need to see, Sasuke can fill you in one what Kyuubi told me about what happens when you kill a C class demon and about his new eye"

Ten minutes of running later Sai had been apprised of the situation and had given his congratulations to Sasuke for his new eye. But Naruto's attitude pretty much killed any real chance of them enjoying this moment hopefully his mood will change soon because was a hair trigger away from pounding him.

"**Your brothers are concerned about you"**

'_They will have to deal with it. We are here'_

Jumping from the trees they were on the boys made their way into town. The sight that they saw would be forever etched into their minds: there were bodies everywhere with giant holes in their chests as though something had ripped their hearts out.

"What in the world could have done this?" asked Sasuke "And how did you know about it?"

Naruto's eyes dropped in shame "I did this"

Stunned Sai said "that is impossible their wounds don't match anything I have ever seen you do and why would you even kill these people?"

"Ichi convinced them to sell their souls to him as a contingency plan in case I beat him. I had him trapped then he told me that if I killed him they would die too and I killed him. This is my fault I killed all these innocent people because I could not bear to lose to Ichi"

Silence filled the area as the boys digested what they had just heard. They could not say that it was not his fault because it was and they also couldn't say that he had no choice because he did. But they did not like seeing their usually loud and happy brother this broken.

"I am going to bury them they deserve that at least" said Naruto

"We will help" said Sai

"Hn"

Three agonising hours later fifty holes had been dug and filled with the bodies of every one who had died. For Naruto burying the adults was one thing but they were dead children and a woman who looked like she was pregnant. That was the hardest one to bury but the boys pushed on until the job was done. After that the boys just left for home burying their emotions deep into their psyche which while they knew was unhealthy right now was not the time or place to deal with hurt emotions.

Meanwhile at Konoha

Hinata was mortified. Today was their day off and Kurenai told them that they would be taking them shopping as a reward for all their hard work. Shopping would have been a good idea but then Kurenai said that Anko was coming along which was fine with Hinata. Anko had been the one to get Ino out of her depresses mood so that made the eccentric Jounin okay in her mind.

Hinata had thought that the day would be her friends getting new clothes while she gave her support from the background, this was not the case. The second they entered the store Anko rounded on her and dragged her to get her into clothes that will according to her "ensure that people know that you are a student of the sexy Mitirashi Anko".

This would still be manageable because she was expecting to pick a few new clothes and take them home to be worn at a later date. Only for Anko to drag her along with everyone else into the women's section and into a change room and then she said that dreadful word.

"Strip"

Hinata's brain temporarily shut down then rebooted and the blush that covered her face would make tomatoes jealous.

"Yo-yo-you w-wan-want m-me t-t-to w-wh-what?" asked Hinata hoping and praying that she heard wrong unfortunately she did not hear wrong

"You heard me starling strip I need to see that body of yours"

Seeing that her student was about to faint and her giggling friends would offer no help she decided to try to get Anko to give this up "Maybe she shouldn't"

Anko simply waved off Kurenai's comment "the starling would one day strip in front of her male teammates so the sooner she gets over this the better"

The sheer horror that reflected in Hinata's eyes was too funny for Ino and Sakura to resist, they knew that what Anko said was a possibility not the norm but Hinata did not. Kurenai on the other hand was torn between being amused at the look on Hinata's face or annoyed that Anko was yet again trying to drive her students up the wall for her own amusement.

Anko was just curious I mean Hinata had to be hiding something with all the jackets that she always wore, regardless of the weather and situation. This way they could see the problem early enough and help her understand that there was nothing wrong with her body.

Hinata knew that if she did not comply fast enough Anko would strip her herself, the woman had no sense of private space. Therefore the only option was to fight her way out. So she got into her stance which shocked the heck out everyone present

"Hinata-chan what are you doing?" asked Sakura

Hinata however was too focused on getting her timing right she knew that Kurenai-sensei would not stop her, Sakura and Ino she could handle so the problem was taking Anko out before the woman made her move against her. Unfortunately for Hinata she forgot that though she acted like a crazy, eccentric child Anko was a Jounin. Hence why before she could blink she was naked and her clothes were in Anko's hands.

"There that wasn't so bad now was it?" said Anko before she gaped at Hinata's figure

EEEPPPP!

Hinata quickly tried to cover up but the damage had already been done evidenced by the looks she was being given. To say everyone was stunned would be an understatement: Hinata's breasts were almost fully out. Sakura and Ino shared a look before looking at their tiny breasts. Kurenai was impressed and as for Anko…

"Why on earth would you hide that?!" screamed Anko "those killers should be open for the world to see damn it"

"Anko she is ten"

"Well her breast size isn't"

"A-a-ano c-can I have my clo-clothes back please?" Hinata's voice was low but it had an edge to it which did not have the effect that she was hoping for

"Oh the little mouse has claws does she?" said Anko with a smirk on her face that only got bigger when Hinata started glaring at her

Kurenai decided to step in before Hinata incorrectly assumes that she can take Anko on. Her best friend had many fine qualities sadly restraint was not one of them.

"Anko give the girl her clothes"

"Nope"

At this point Hinata was getting very angry and she was forgetting about her current state of undress which was probably what Anko wanted to happen in the first place. This whole situation just became troublesome and today was supposed to her students day off 'damn Anko'

"Anko-sensei please hand my clothes over this instant" said Hinata with a tone that was very much unlike her

Sakura and Ino were stunned for the second time in minutes; Hinata looked so strong-willed and powerful. Was this really their timid teammate?

Anko on the other hand was enjoying herself "Hmm let me think about it…no"

At this point Hinata started channelling Kurenai: posture light but deadly, eyes calm but shimmering with authority, voice gentle but with an edge of pure steel.

"Mitirashi my clothes now"

The girls were floored Hinata looked so much like Kurenai-sensei when she was being serious. Kurenai was very impressed she did not know that Hinata had it in her. Anko knew that at this point she should give in and end this after all she has seen what she wanted to but she was curious about how far she could really push Hinata and what the formerly timid girl would do when backed into a corner.

So with a smirk on her face Anko poked the lioness "make me"

Something in Hinata snapped but before she could attack Anko and get her ass handed to her Ino appeared in front of her

"Enough"

Hinata immediately calmed down Ino was capable of alternating between a childish personality and an alpha personality this something Hinata instinctively knew. Knowing that her fun was over Anko tossed Hinata's clothes to her but not without making a comment

"So are you still scared of showing off your figure to your girls?"

Hinata looked at her naked form and the audience around her were smiling warmly at her and she blushed heavily "no"

"See there is always a pattern to my methods"

"Don't you mean there is a pattern to your craziness" said Ino

Anko pulled out a kunai and her smile turned sadistic "you want to repeat that chickadee"

Kurenai knew that Ino would do so just to prove that she could but they were getting off track here and besides this was her team damn it not Anko's

"Alright that's okay we came here to do something or have you forgotten that?"

"Tch fine let's get the brats some new clothes"

Ino tried she really tried to resist it but she failed "whatever you say old woman"

Oh shit

One hour later

Hokage Tower

The team was standing in front of the Hokage as he read the ANBU's report on what happened in the mall today with varying expressions on their faces: Hinata was mortified, Sakura was awed, Ino and Anko were unrepentant, and Kurenai was simply exasperated.

"Destruction of property, disturbing the peace, endangerment of civilians, and public indecency, do I even want to know what caused this?"

"Well it all started when we found out that Hinata is a big girl now" said Anko while Hinata nearly passed out from embarrassment

"Hokage-sama is it true that you are a legendary prodigy?" asked Sakura

Kakashi sighed he then wisely decided to not deal with this craziness today "you are all free to go"

"Aw Godaime-sama you mean you are not going to punish us?" said Anko with a suggestive tone

Unfortunately for Anko Kakashi was prepared for her brand of sass "perhaps I should inform Mikoto-san of your desire for punishment"

Anko instantly blanched Mikoto was an amazing woman and her surrogate mother but the woman was scarier than her whenever she did something well, Anko-like. Being punished by Mikoto was something that she wanted to avoid at all costs.

"I'll be good"

"Excellent now…" whatever he was going to say died in his throat when the three girls started looking at him with stars in their eyes causing him to involuntarily shudder

"You got her…" said Ino

"To behave…" said Hinata

"You are amazing!" said Sakura

Anko on the other hand was not pleased Kakashi was ruining her hard earned reputation with her brats now they won't be afraid of her. Well she would just have to remind them that she was still the scariest, most badass Kunoichi around. That will teach them alright

Meanwhile

The boys had just arrived at the gates and they did not even bother greeting Izumo and Kotesu they just kept walking. As they approached the Hokage tower the boys barely noticed Anko and her teammate with girls who were in their class at the academy walking towards them until Anko called out to them.

"Oi what happened to you three?" she had never seen them so broken especially Naruto

"Too much" said Naruto before they kept walking on

The girls were worried about their crushes and frankly so was Kurenai, she might not know them all that well but her teammates did, she could not imagine what had happened to make them look like that.

"Kurenai I need you to take the girls I will see you later"

"Anko-sensei, are they okay?"

"I am sure they will be Sakura those boys are tough"

"Wait you know them?" asked Ino

"Indeed I've known them for a long while now that is why I can tell you that they will be fine. I will see you girls later I need to go check on my boys"

Kurenai decided to get the girls moving standing around and worrying will not do anything "come on you three"

So much for their day off

Anko had arrived just in time to see the boys enter the Hokage's office but it looked like they did not even notice her there.

"Hokage-sama can you please send for Baa-chan, Gai-sensei and Itachi we don't want to give our report twice"

The tone of Naruto's voice caused Anko and Kakashi to flinch; it sounded dead.

'_It was just a minor C rank mission what could have gone wrong?'_ thought Kakashi before he sent off the ANBU to find the requested people thankfully they were all in town

Ten minutes later everyone was gathered in the Hokage's office even Gai who would have been bursting with energy for the fact that his students had completed their first solo C rank mission was sombre. When he saw that everyone was gathered Naruto started the report with Sasuke and Sai chipping in information on their own fights.

At the start of the report nobody could understand what caused the boys' mood but as Naruto to the part of the ambush they began to see why they were like this and by the time the report was finalized nobody moved a muscle due to the shock that they were feeling. I mean seriously what do you say when three ten year olds come back from a C class mission saying that they had killed twelve Jounin level opponents and had indirectly sentenced fifty innocent people to death? The cream in top was that they buried them; all the members of the village.

The psychological implications were not good especially since they were supposed to attend the Chunin exams in Konoha in three weeks and then throw in the fact of who they were talking about here: the Kyuubi Jinchuriki and heir to the Uzumaki clan, the second heir to the Uchiha clan and the heir to the Sozen clan. Anko summed up the situation very well

"Well fuck"

Kyuubi was about to talk to his container when he sensed something forming inside the boy's cells. When he dug deeper he nearly fell from shock the combination of the demonic essence that Naruto got from Ichi and Nii, his own bijuu chakra and Naruto's own Uzumaki chakra was forming something impossible in the boy's DNA.

'_**That bloodline…it can't be'**_

**Author's note: Thank you for reading I truly appreciate it. I want to offer my sincere gratitude to all my reviewers, followers and everyone who chose this story as a favourite. Naruto's bloodline will be revealed in the next chapter. Also next chapter begins the Kumo Chunin exams. As always review and let me know what you think.**

**See you all next chapter,**

**Dante out**


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's note: So I am very proud to say that I have a new Beta who is awesome by the way. This means that Storm Blade Rebellion is about to get a whole more amazing. Thank you Blaserjohn. So this is chapter 21, enjoy. Don't forget to review.**

Chapter 21

Kakashi looked at the Sandaime and Kari with a look that was clearly begging them to handle this situation; the look on the boy's faces hit far too close to home for him. It reminded him of the reasons he avoided looking at himself in the mirror while he was in ANBU. When you go on one too many S-class black ops missions they tend to take a piece of your soul away, ones you can never get back. But of course they left him high and dry, Kari was actually expecting him to handle the boys.

'_This is why I hate this job...okay how do I do this?' _thought Kakashi

Standing up Kakashi walked over to the boys and knelt in front of them, looking at their dead and pained eyes, eyes that were so much like his before he left ANBU. Those eyes...he understood what they were going through...damn did he understand.

"You're angry" Kakashi stated.

The statement made everyone look at him like he was crazy. Of all the emotions, anger was the last thing that they expected the boys to feel, but they decided to give Kakashi time to explain his theory and hopefully pull the boys back together. In three weeks, the Chunin exams would start and they could not afford to have the boys off their game.

"You are angry at the demons for what they did, you are angry at yourselves for not being able to stop it, you are angry that the people you love were not there to protect you, to help you through it and you are angry that you were even involved in this matter for reasons that you are aware of. But most of all you are mad at whoever hired the men who came after you and what he wants you to become.

The truth is no enemy or place can make you into someone that you are not. I was in ANBU before I became Hokage and I saw things, was forced to do things, for which I felt there was no forgiveness. It messed me up badly, but I found my core problems and came to terms with them. With the help of people who cared about me, I was able to pull through; because I realized that I was important to them. They were there for me when I was happy (celebrating my joy) or when I was sad (helping to lessen my pain).

As shinobi we face darkness for a living, but the best of us realize that regardless of how much darkness enters into our lives, we are allowed to be happy and to overcome it; it's expected of us. No amount of analysis is going to cancel out the fact that fifty people are now dead and there is a measure of blame to go around; and not just to the three of you. We honour the dead by fighting, we learn from our mistakes and move on, but we never stop fighting.

Three weeks from now the three of you will be entering the Chunin exams held here in Konoha and if the way the winds are blowing means anything then this is going to be one hell of a clusterfuck. Now I plan to fight for the sake of my home and all those who have died protecting it, as will everyone present in this village and those away on missions. I know you three believe in fighting to protect those who are precious to you, well that includes fighting against the darkness and fighting for your happiness because seeing you smile will make those precious to you happy. So what do you guys say? Ready to pick yourselves up and get back into the game?"

Hiruzen watched with pride and joy as the determination that the boys were known for roared back into their eyes as they replied to Kakashi's call. He would have to admit, it felt good to be right. He knew Kakashi would make an excellent Hokage and this was confirmation that the next generation will be just fine.

He was not the only one who was happy with the way things turned out.

"YOSH! MY STUDENTS' FLAMES OF YOUTH IS TRULY AMAZING! IT INSPIRES ME TO GIVE YOU A GIFT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH REMAIN BURNING HOT AND STRONG!"

Gai, out of nowhere, produced three green spandex suits and presented them to the boys with the same smile a midwife has as she hands a mother her child. When Kari saw it and the image of her grandsons wearing that hideous thing, she decided to do the only logical thing a grandmother could do in this situation: she chucked Gai out the window, burned the suits and threatened to maim her boys if she even suspected that they were thinking of wearing that abomination.

"Well I think that is enough excitement for one day why don't you boys go home, you have more than earned your rest." said Hiruzen

"Damn straight, my little brothers just finished their first A-ranked mission. I am so proud of you three!" said Anko as she bear-hugged the boys.

Their blue faces brought amusement to those present, but Itachi knew that if he did not step in soon Anko will go overboard with her hugging. The woman had once used her snakes, venomous ones at that, to hug the boys because her hands were too small.

"Alright Anko how about we let them rest, you can abuse them later after a shower at least"

"Mou" pouted Anko but she let go of the boys, causing them to breath in sharply "Oh sorry you three!"

"Like hell I would believe that crazy snake lady" said Naruto.

Anko twitched and then she smiled sweetly.

"I am sorry what did you call me brat?"

"I called you a-mmrrrp"

Sai had grabbed his brother's mouth before he pissed off Anko…again

"I would like to have a shower without watching my back, okay?"

After Kari took her grandkids away, Anko, Itachi and Kakashi turned to the Sandaime:

"Well your help was much appreciated" Kakashi drawled

"Your sarcasm hurts Kakashi; I simply had full faith in your ability to turn the situation around. Besides you are the Hokage, not to mention you were a child prodigy who has seen far more than his share of pain and darkness and pulled through. Nothing Kari or I would have said would have been able to reach the boys because we cannot truly understand what they are going through."

"I really hate how you backup your bullshit with logical responses"

"Why do you think I am called the Professor?" said Hiruzen with a smirk.

Gai came up then with a bruise of his face "YOSH I survived!…MY SUITS!"

When the two Hokages saw Gai pitifully crying over his burnt suits, they decided to do the right thing… they immediately left the office. They dealt with enough craziness in their lives, they were not stupid enough to willing add to the scars they already had.

That night, just before the boys went to sleep, Kyuubi told Naruto come to the mindscape and to bring his brothers along with him. So on his instructions Naruto fist bumped his brothers and Kyuubi pulled them into the mindscape.

"Fascinating, so this is your mindscape." said Sai as he looked around.

"Not bad for someone with a single digit IQ" said Sasuke with a hidden smirk.

"Thanks guys!" exclaimed Naruto

5..

4..

3..

2..

1..

"What the hell do you mean by single digit IQ asshole?!"

"**The fact that it took you five seconds to register what he said proves it"**

The boys turned around to see the nine-tailed fox in all his glory. Naruto's brothers saw the huge and scary fox, and realizing Naruto held this creature inside of him, had just one thought: Damn.

"Hey Kyu so what's up?" asked Naruto

"**You three need to sit down for this"** said Kyuubi with a very serious look on his face.

"Is everything okay Kyuubi-san?" asked Sai as they sat down on the surprisingly soft grass.

"**The fight that you three had today has changed your DNA and you need to know about the resulting consequences. As you already know, killing a C-class demon augments everything about you. But you three already have your weapons' energy running through you, not mention the time that I sent my chakra into your networks. All these different energies have now merged with the demonic essence inside of you, with critical drawbacks.**

**Sasuke you were able to unlock your Mangekeyou Sharingan without the consequences of going blind and eventually you may be able to unlock something far stronger than the Sharingan: the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths, the Rinnegan. But every time you use your eyes, you will start to lose your humanity little by little and eventually, you will lose it completely. You will become a real demon, incapable of feeling anything but hatred and rage; even the chakra cost of using your abilities will be limiting.**

**Sai, as of now, any bloodline limit using earth as a base will be accessible to you; wood, sand, crystal, rock, lava, even metal. The chakra cost will be minimal because according to what I can see, you will be able to use nature energy like the First Hokage. But what you won't pay in chakra, you will pay for with something far worse. Like Sasuke you will pay for these abilities with your humanity. However, instead of becoming a demon, you will lose your identity and merge with the earth. Eventually your very self will be lost and replaced with that of a tree, if you are lucky, and a rock if you are not."**

Kyuubi sighed as he looked at Naruto, a child who was just starting to gain his respect; life can be cruel even to the innocent ones.

"**Naruto the combination of me, Arashi, your Uzumaki genes and the demonic essence that you absorbed formed something that I thought extinct. Long ago, there was a man who had the ability to not just copy but improve any technique or bloodline limit that he saw. He had what people called the Dragon Eye, a Doujustu that allowed him utilize any bloodline. He was the only one capable of being the Rikudou Sennin's equal, but his ability came at a great cost. He had what the medics now call Chakra Poisoning: a rare disease that acts like a virulent cancer in not just your chakra network but in any children you have. It killed him slowly and painfully, slowing stripping away his ability to use his chakra and then his body until he became a vegetable. He died in severe agony and now you have his bloodline limit."**

The boys were stunned into silence; even Naruto could not open his mouth to say a word at this point. What do you say when someone says 'you have the potential to be the most powerful ninja in history but the cost is either physical or mental death'. I mean the consequences far outweighed the benefits but they were being targeted by some very powerful people who wanted them dead. They would need all the help they can get in order to protect themselves and the ones they love, but the sheer cost was incalculable.

However, smashing through incalculable odds is what Naruto does best:.

"I don't care what the consequences are, they will not happen to us." Said Naruto resolutely.

Sai knew that Naruto liked to believe that anything could be accomplished through hard work and never giving up but this was different. He told him so, but of course Naruto refused:

"I said I don't care what the odds are, we are not about to be beaten by some stupid speculations." turning to Kyuubi he said "Sasuke will never succumb to hatred or else I will kick the crap out of him until he comes back to his senses. Sai will never become some stupid rock; he will be the best damn earth user in history. And if you think I am going to let some century old disease stop me from becoming the greatest Hokage ever, then you don't know me at all. We are the grandsons of Sozen Kari and we never give up no matter what _ttebayo._"

Kyuubi saw Naruto's confidence strengthened his brothers and he scoffed

"**You will never change, will you brat?"**

"Now where is the fun in that _ttebayo_?" Said Naruto.

Sasuke smirked, "Typical idiot"

3..

2..

1..

"What did you say to me assface?" shouted Naruto as he grabbed Sasuke by his shirt, lifting him up.

"Well you don't waste anytime Naruto-kun, not even going to ask me out first."

"Like hell I would ever ask your ugly ass out!" shouted Naruto

Sai decided to join in the fun

"How did you know his ass is ugly? First-hand observation?"

As Kyuubi watched Naruto argue with his brothers, he could not help but see an image of the Sage in him. The brat was not the sharpest kunai in the pouch but if there's one thing he knew, Naruto never gives up. The boy was like a bright ray of sunshine that never went dim; it was impressive.

'_**Tch of all the containers, I start to respect a ten year old. The guys will never let me live this down if they find out. Oh well, I guess time will tell if the brat is all talk or not.'**_

Next day

Ino had decided she was going to harass Anko into taking them to see the boys; especially Naruto. Seeing him yesterday, so broken and tired, twisted something in her heart. She had never liked Naruto because thinking about him always gave her a headache; like there was something she was supposed to know about him but couldn't remember. But after yesterday, she needed to make sure that he was okay, if for no other reason than to stop this ache in her heart.

Thinking back she realized it was definitely strange for her to get headaches just from thinking deeply about someone. She was the heir to the Yamanaka clan and she knew something like that could only happen if her brain had either been forced or compelled to forget something for her mental stability. But Naruto came from a rare breed of lovable idiots so there was no way something relating to him would have caused her that kind of trauma (at least according to her slightly expert opinion).

Thankfully when she got downstairs, her father was around and if anyone could figure out what was wrong with her, it was him. Of course being his little princess, he would do anything to make her happy. Finally, she could remember and not suffer headaches whenever her mind went to Naruto; her life would be much easier.

"Hey princess, is everything okay?" asked Inoichi

"No daddy, everything is definitely not okay. I keep getting headaches whenever I think about someone from my class" said Ino

The comment caused both Inoichi and Mito to stiffen; they had hoped this issue would never come up. Hopefully, they could change topics and avoid this subject without their daughter noticing. Unfortunately Ino is a student of Konoha's Genjutsu Mistress and a Yamanaka; picking up non-verbal cues had become second nature to her.

Ino was immediately suspicious, her parents were suddenly uncomfortable with her line of questioning (she hadn't even mentioned Naruto, only saying it was a classmate). Well Anko always said 'if you think someone is keeping a secret from you, it is your obligation to make them sweat until they pour out everything and then make them suffer for hiding it from you in the first place'.

"His name is Uzumaki Naruto" continued Ino; now with keen eyes.

She saw their reaction to the name and, despite a tendril of fear crawling up her back, she decided to follow Anko's instruction to the letter. Her parents were keeping a big secret from her, one that was affecting her quite seriously, and that was justification enough.

"He is a nice guy, a little loud, but nice. I don't really know why I get these headaches when I think about him. It is possible he just aggravates me."

She gave them hope, lowering their defences; she needed to ensure her parents told her, instead of just clamming up. She waited a moment, just a beat, then:

"But when the headaches start, it feels like there is something about Naruto that I should know, but just can't remember."

Adopting a thinking pose she continued, "but the only way for something like that to happen is if my brain was trying to protect me from a traumatic experience."

"Perhaps that is it, you should leave it be and move on" said Mito resolutely.

She didn't notice her husband cringe, but she saw Ino smirk.

'_Rookie mistake mom, rookie mistake...' _

"Hmm… maybe I should, but a part of me feels like someone purposely wanted me to not remember something about him."

Ino then looked dead into her parent's eyes and said, "That is just crazy though, right?"

Inoichi knew the gig was up and it was time to come clean. Times like these, he was both proud and sad at his daughter's skill. Turning to Mito, he gave her a solemn look and her shoulders drooped in defeat. She knew it was time and she gave him a nod in return.

"Ino…" Inoichi started.

"Save it dad, I already know you suppressed my memories, just undo it." Ino demanded

"No" he said without hesitation.

Ino's eyes narrowed,

"What?" she hissed.

Inoichi knew he was possibly destroying his relationship with his daughter but she was not strong enough to handle those memories. He could not bear to see her go through that again; she needed to be stronger.

He kept his face calm, his voice strong:

"I suppressed your memories for a good reason; you were slowly losing your mind. You barely slept, you rarely ate and you refused to shop for anything even when offered. I can't watch my daughter go through that again and neither can your mother, so until we feel you are ready your memories will stay suppressed."

Ino was stunned into silence, but that didn't last long, "What the fuck do you think gives you the right to do that?!"

"My blood running through your veins" said Inoichi resolutely "and while you live under my roof, you will watch your tongue!"

Ino could do nothing but gape at her father, she was seriously considering slapping herself just to check if she was dreaming or under a genjutsu. Her father had never talked to her like this and he was denying her access to her own memories. Her rage skyrocketed.

"Let me give you the run-down _father,_ I am not a child. Your blood may be running through my veins but my hands are already stained with blood: innocent blood. So don't you dare tell me what I can or can't handle because you know nothing about me" Ino shouted.

Inoichi's heart twisted from hearing the venom in his little princess' voice.

"Regardless, until you become a full-fledged shinobi you are still under my authority and you _will_ respect me, is that clear young lady?"

Blood started leaking from Ino's clenched fists, you could practically hear her teeth grinding together and she had murder in her eyes.

"Whatever you say, _Yamanaka-sama_" She spat.

The formal and cold title almost broke Inoichi's resolve but he held strong, this was for her own good.

"Now your mother has made breakfast, let's eat." His voice, by some miracle, didn't waver.

"Thank you for your kind request, but I need to meet my team. May I be excused, Yamanaka-sama?" She did not wait for a reply to her cold words, she just left.

Once Ino was out of the room, Mito started crying.

"Inoichi, what have we done? Our daughter hates us! M-maybe we should have just told her."

"Can you go through Ino's obsession with Uzumaki Naruto again? She was a robot Mito you saw her; at least now she is in touch with her emotions."

"You know her Inoichi, she is like a dog with a bone. This won't stop until she finds out the truth and it will happen all over again. I just want my daughter to be my daughter Inoichi she is too young to be so cold and matured."

"I want her to be my little princess too Mito, but what would you have me do?" Inoichi asked.

Holding her head in her hands, Mito sighed

"I don't know Inoichi-kun; I don't know anything anymore."

Meanwhile

To say Ino was livid would be an understatement. It was bad enough her father treated her like a child, but to suppress her memories… she was being treated like a criminal. While most clans would frown on using their abilities on their own members, the Yamanakas took the matter far more seriously. When your clan specializes in mind manipulation, even the most innocently used techniques can cause significant damage. As such, there were severe punishments in place for those who abuse their skills; memory suppression being the most prominent amongst them.

From what her father had said, Ino hadn't committed any crimes; before or during her traumatized state. So, even being the clan head, Inoichi had no right to suppress her memories. He could've taken her to therapy, forbidden her from becoming a shinobi, or even taken her out of the village, but instead he violated her mind and her rights as a Yamanaka. Ino seriously considered going to the Hokage, but being an internal matter, she knew that would take her no where.

'_I could invoke the forum...I am a clan heir after all.'_

The forum was something the Yamanaka, Naras and Akimichi clan had set up long ago. If one clan had serious internal strife (contesting a new clan head, charges of incompetence against the leaders, or the clan head abusing his skills _like on his daughter_) and there was no good way to resolve the issue internally without bloodshed or serious lingering resentment, a forum could be called. The forum could include up to 5 members, 2 from the non-contested clans, and 1 from the contested one. The idea was to have the issue seriously considered, instead of having the clan head merely suppress the issue.

Since Ino was the clan heir and she was accusing her father, the clan head, she could call the forum, especially since internally it would most likely look like Ino was just throwing a tantrum or worse, she would be taken seriously and Inoichi would be stripped of his power. And while Ino would love to see that happen, she wants her memories and her father being summarily punished wouldn't get her what she wanted. Also, the issue was clearly quite secretive and opening it clan wide may not be the best course of action.

'_I could ask for a mediation with just Shikaku-sama and Choza-sama; this way I keep things small but there can be no risk of _father_ pulling some clan secret nonsense. Also as long as I keep the forum small, I'll be taken seriously, but not the risk the clan. Problem is, the accusation would stay on his head for quite some time… using memory suppression on your own child is no small offense.'_

As Ino approached her team meeting, being the last to arrive, she decided that getting her answers were worth the damage to her father. After all, she had just given him a chance to undo his crime but he had refused. Maybe she would give him one more chance, if the threat of the forum didn't make him come to his senses, then she would not be to blame.

"Took you long enough chickadee what did you get lost on the way or something?" said Anko.

Normally Ino would have replied in kind, but today was not the day,

"I need you to take me and the girls to see Naruto and his team." said Ino in a no-nonsense voice.

Anko raised an eyebrow as did Kurenai.

"And just out of curiosity, why would I do that?" Anko asked, her tone unchanged.

"Because I asked nicely and I will not do so again." Ino said tersely.

Anko looked at Kurenai in surprise. Ino was gusty, yes, but this was something else. Kurenai tried to reason with her student or at least find out what got her into such a bad mood.

"Ino perhaps you could take a breath and tell us what is going on?"

You know how they say sometimes people hear you say something but their brain interprets it to mean something else entirely? Well Ino heard her sensei but her brain immediately concluded that her Sensei thought of her same way her father did: like a little child.

"I don't remember talking to you Yuhi-sensei. Anko-sensei, are you going to take me to them or do I have to find them myself?" Ino's voice was stiff, bordering on frigid.

Normally Anko's response would have been a clear 'no', but she knew first-hand what anger does to you. She saw her student lash out and knew Ino was really mad about something else. Right now Ino was not asking for longitude and latitude, she was asking for trust and that was a pain. Anko knew all too well.

"Sure squirrel, let's go." Anko decided this day would be a pain either way, at least now she had control; her trust in Ino had bought her sway.

Sakura and Hinata were glad that they would be able to see the boys and make sure that they were okay, but Ino's mood had them worried. They had seen her angry before, given her personality and Anko's, but this level of rage was new and they had no idea what caused it. Well maybe after seeing the boys she would calm down and tell them what was going on with her.

Sozen Household

After breakfast, the boys sat Kari down and explained to her what Kyuubi had told them last night about their new abilities and the cost of using them. It was quite the conversation, especially when Naruto reaffirmed to Kari his resolution to never give in to some stupid costs; they were road bumps, not insurmountable walls.

"I have always admired your courage and determination Naruto-kun. But don't be foolish and simply disregard Kyuubi's warnings, he would not have warned you if he wasn't worried." said Kari

Naruto folded his arms in defiance.

"I know that, but I am not going to quit until I become Hokage and that is that."

Sighing, Kari said "Naruto this is serious and-"

"I know that Baa-chan but I refuse to let my life be governed by a what-if. I am going to live my life to the fullest and if a century old disease doesn't like that well then, tough." stated Naruto.

Kari knew that nothing she said will change Naruto's mind; the boy was as stubborn as his mother… and every other Uzumaki she knew. Oh well, he will not go through it alone. If she had to, she would drag Tsunade's ass back to the village to help him.

**Knock. Knock.**

Sai groaned, "Please tell me that that it is not Gai-sensei. I am tired damn it."

"I will go check, but just to be safe, why don't you boys go to your room?" said Kari.

Gai is a wonderful Jounin and a loyal friend, but his brand of craziness needed to be taken in small doses and after yesterday the boys needed a break.

When she opened the door however, it was not Gai. She was surprised to see it was Anko and Kurenai with three young girls.

'_Well this is certainly interesting' _she thought.

"Yo Kari-baa-chan" greeted Anko causing Kurenai to flinch.

'_Why oh why can't she be more respectful?'_ thought Kurenai but what she heard next made her sweatdrop.

"Hello to you too Skank-chan" replied Kari.

"Mou, you are so mean Baa-chan" Anko said with a mock pout.

"If you too old broads are done catching up, we came here with a reason" said Ino making herself known.

"And you are?" asked Kari with a dismissive tone. She knew who the girl was of course, but the brat was on her front yard and, while she gave Anko and Naruto a pass to be themselves, this girl had not done anything to earn that yet.

"You know who I am, now are you going to let us in or not?" Ino demanded.

Everyone was shocked to their core; sure Ino was confident and sometimes cocky, it was part of her charm, but this level of arrogance and petulence was not like her at all. Kari however was impressed, the girl had guts she would give her that.

'_Hmm I know Anko enough to know that she wouldn't have brought her here without a good reason and the boys do need more friends their age. At least they are not fangirls, oh well this should be interesting at least' _

"Very well, come in" said Kari "Why don't you have a seat while I get the boys?"

Said boys were in their room about to start playing cards when Kari walked in.

"Is it Gai-sensei?" asked Sasuke (his voice _definitely_ didn't waver with fear).

"No, you three have visitors. Come on; let us not keep them waiting."

The boys quickly put their cards away and followed their grandmother with varying expressions of confusion and apprehension. They had the same question on their mind: who in the world was at the door? And more importantly why did their grandmother have that look on her face?

Naruto knew that look meant she knew something they did not and she was going to enjoy whatever was coming and they wouldn't. But Kari did not have that look before she opened the door and there was no way that anything serious could have happened in the few minutes since they left, right? Looking at his brothers he noticed that they also had the same train of thought, well they were going to find out soon anyway. Although just in case he instructed his brothers to get ready to teleport out of the house if they did not like what they met.

When the boys got to the living room, they only saw Anko and Kurenai so clearly they were missing something here. That was until they checked their surroundings and saw the girls sitting on their couch.

'_What in the world are they doing here?'_ thought Sasuke _'last time I checked they were fangirls; well Sakura and Ino are but since when are they friends with a Hyuuga?_

Naruto of course was more vocal with his questioning "Okay what are they doing here? Shouldn't they be in school or something?"

Immediately, Sai could tell it was the wrong thing to say, and the events that immediately followed confirmed his suspicious.

Hinata's head dropped in shame at the fact that the person she looked up to the most could not even see that she was getting stronger. Sakura couldn't care less what he thought of them she only had eyes for Sasuke anyway and she was sure he could see that she was training to get stronger. Ino on the other hand saw yet another person that did not believe in her and she snapped.

"I am going to kill you for that" growled Ino. She turned to Kari and said, "do you have a training area here?"

Kari suspected exactly what the girl's problem was and thought perhaps a fight would do her good "follow me"

Naruto was officially confused, "What did I say?"

Sasuke just sighed and followed Kari, although given how Sakura kept looking at him made him wish he was not here. Fangirls always gave him the creeps, between the look in their eyes and the sounds of their voices, his skin was always crawling. That being said, the blue-haired one didn't look like a fangirl, which already won her points in his opinion. She did not look like she could fight though, probably making her as weak as her friends.

Sasuke had to physically stop himself from sighing again. Was it so hard for him to find a girl in his generation that was not a weak air-head? Did something poison the water the female population drank after Anko's generation? While the crazy woman was as hyperactive as Naruto, she had earned her Jounin promotion just like Kurenai. This time he was not able to stop himself from sighing.

'_Women'_

When they got outside, Sasuke was sure that the fight would end in seconds; after all, there was no way that these girls would be able to even touch him or his brothers. Sai on the other hand was not as sure; he could tell from the way the girls were moving and their chakra signatures that they had some training, certainly not as much as they had, but enough for them not to be dismissed out of hand. Naruto however was just plain confused, he had no idea why Ino wanted to fight him so badly. Was it something he said? They really should be in school, Iruka-sensei was not a fan of his students skipping school.

"**You really are an idiot."** said Kyuubi

'_What the hell is that supposed to mean?'_ thought Naruto angrily

Kyuubi shook his head **"Just get ready."**

Sure enough, they had gotten to their training area and Ino was in front of him with eyes that wanted blood. He had seen that same look in Anko's eyes enough times and knew not to lower his guard and prepare for the worst. Although he did not want to fight her, he would never turn down a spar with a new opponent; even though he knew he would have to hold back a lot.

Kari looked at the two of them; she knew that her grandson was far stronger than his opponent but it looked like the girl had something to prove. Oh well like she thought this was going to be interesting regardless.

"Ready, set, Hajime"

Ino refused to give Naruto time to breathe as she attacked him in full force. She knew that he was underestimating her and she would make him suffer for it. Speed was her forte and she was going to use it to get the asshole back for everything.

Naruto was impressed and a little scared. The girl was fierce with fast hands and light feet; she was nowhere near as fast as him or Sasuke (maybe when they were five the girl could have given him a hard time) but she fought like she had nothing to lose. He could admit to having fun watching her go at him, being so ahead of someone was a new feeling for him, and boy was he enjoying it. This must be how Kari felt when they sparred.

Ino knew that now was the time, she had managed to manoeuvre him into a position where he would only have one option and she was ready for it. It was time to wipe the smirk that was forming on his handsome face…wait what? Shaking her head she got ready:

A low sweeping kick sent Naruto to her left, so she quickly drew a kunai that was then hurled at Naruto, forcing him bend sideways. Ino, using her right hand as a base, drove both her feet towards his face and, like she suspected because of the lack of trees and the overhanging root behind him, he would either have to block her kick or duck. Naruto, unfortunately, was too experienced to duck instinctively, since doing so would blind him to her hands for too long, and this cost him dearly.

Like Ino wanted, Naruto blocked her kick by grabbing both of her legs in his hands, his first mistake. To say what came next stunned him, would be like saying Jiraiya was only a little bit into peeping. Ino displayed incredible upper body strength by lifting herself up and attempted to drive a kunai into his eye. But Naruto was sharp enough to push her away from him, unfortunately the shock made him forget about the root, leaving him to lose his centre.

This was Ino's plan all along and she took advantage of his loss of balance by going through hand signs for a technique she had mastered recently:

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower"

Multiple fireballs and his lack of a centre forced Naruto to drop to the ground and roll away, but before he knew it his danger senses went off again. Ino had used the technique as part of her plan; with Naruto distracted and down it was easy to jump him and place a kunai an inch from his throat.

"Still think I should be in school or something?" said Ino with a dangerous look in her eyes.

Naruto's mind took a few seconds to process what had just happened.

"You planned this from the start." said Naruto

Narrowing her eyes she bent down till her face was just a few inches from his and the blade cut into his neck.

"_Never_ underestimate me again." said Ino coldly.

Everyone witnessed the scene and even Sasuke had to admit to being impressed. If Naruto had gone all out, he would have outclassed her in everything, but he hadn't and from now on, he wouldn't make that mistake again.

As for Naruto, looking into Ino's eyes was turning out to be very distracting; the anger and pain was bare for anyone to see.

"I am sorry, you beat me fair and square" said Naruto calmly.

His honest admission threw Ino off a bit, but looking in his eyes-his beautiful eyes-she knew that he was sincerely sorry… '_where did that come from?'_

Anko saw the chance to mess with two people at the same time and jumped at it:

"Are you two comfortable there? Would you like some privacy?" said Anko, leering at the 2 kids, smiling suggestively.

Ino was about to ask her what she meant, when she realized exactly where she was: straddling a boy with his face inches from hers. Once that fact settled in, she jumped off him quickly, with a light blush on her cheeks.

"Well it seemed like we ended a very nice moment." said Kari "Don't worry kids, I'm sure there will be others."

Naruto groaned, he knew that neither Anko nor Kari would ever let him live this down. As he got up, he felt as though his body was cold or lacking something since Ino jumped off him.

'_That is just crazy, but man that fight was something else!'_

"We came here to see if you boys were okay and since you are, we need to go and get some things done" said Ino.

Still embarrassed by what she did, she was nonetheless proud of the fact that she was able to best a prodigy. But if she wanted to keep that up, she would have to step up her training; Naruto and his brothers are too smart to let her play them like that again.

Unfortunately Kurenai was not about to let her off that easy: it was payback time,

"Actually we have a free day, so why don't we stay?" Kurenai said, smiling at Ino.

"Well you guys are free to do what you want, I have something I need to do at home." Ino said quickly, trying to get away.

"No, you don't." countered Kurenai.

Ino felt her eye twitch. She was trying to save face here and make the boys think she was too cool for them and her stupid sensei was ruining it by bluffing her; well two can play at that game.

"I am surprised that you can pay attention to my home life since you've been very occupied with that new boyfriend."

Kurenai, thrown by the sudden change, let slip a slight blush; causing three sharks to smell blood. And when a shark smelt blood:

"So who is this mystery boyfriend, Nai-chan?" asked Anko sidling up to Kurenai.

"Yes who is the lucky guy?" asked Kari.

Ino smirked, she knew that there was no way Kurenai would want to stay now, not with all the eyes trained on her. Two wins in one day, it felt good to be Yamanaka Ino.

Unfortunately for the blond, Kari was not about to let her off that easy. While they were fighting, Anko had given her the rundown about Ino's behavior and asked her to help the girl out. Kari had to get the girl one on one so that they could deal with her issues; she loved her boys, but they and Anko were absolutely useless when it came to subtle matters of the heart.

"Well how about we go into the house? That fight made me hungry" said Kari.

"Heck yeah, ramen time!" Naruto cheered.

"Actually, you boys have to go to the grocery store to pick up some things."

"Wait why us?" asked Naruto

Sasuke on the other hand was more than happy to leave, the thought of staying here with Sakura one minute longer was out of the question

"Sure let's go" said Sasuke, already dragging Naruto out.

Now Naruto was really confused, Kari never let them shop for groceries by themselves, given their tendencies to pick their favourite foods and ignore everything else, and now Sasuke (who hated shopping) was eager? What the hell?

"Naruto there is a list on the table, Kurenai will go with you to ensure that you follow the list and yes you can buy some instant ramen."

Well that did it, so long as he got ramen Naruto was not interested in what was going on with his family today, besides ramen made everything better.

"You got it, Baa-chan"

When the boys and Kurenai left, Kari turned to Anko: "Take Sakura and Hinata to the kitchen."

"Mou, why do I have to?" Anko knew what Kari was doing but that did not mean she liked the thought of doing kitchen duty.

Kari rolled her eyes "Anko take the girls and start making snacks and drinks for everyone."

"Tch fine, come on minions" said Anko, leading her 'minions' inside the house.

Once that was out of the way, Kari turned to Ino, who was beginning to look like a cornered animal.

"Relax, I am not going to hurt you" Kari stated calmly.

"Yeah sure, you just happen to dismiss any witnesses, leaving me alone with you in your backyard. How stupid do you think I am?" said Ino

"And what makes you so sure that I am going to hurt you?"

"You are close friends with Anko and that bitch is crazy" said Ino with finality.

"Just because I get along with Anko doesn't make me as hyperactive as her" said Kari. "Look, why don't we take a seat under that tree over there?"

Ino still did not trust the old lady, she knew first-hand how vindictive Anko could be, and somehow she knew that Kari was worse. Nonetheless, she sat down and though she would never admit it, that fight had pushed her past her limit.

"Okay so what do you want to talk about?" asked Ino warily.

Kari did not know whether to be amused or proud of how afraid the young girl was of her. Anko had done a good job of beating naivety of her students, but this fear was not productive.

Adopting a serious face, Kari said "Perhaps you will like to tell me why you are being so bitchy today?"

Ino flinched under Kari's stern eyes, Kurenai and her father had nothing on this woman,

"What do you mean?" asked Ino, hoping to avoid the issue. Kari only had to raise an eyebrow, before:

"My father suppressed my memories and refuses to restore them because he thinks I will break. But I am not some weak child he needs to protect. If I could take the Genin exams right now, I would pass with flying colours, making me an adult. Also, I would not be some green genin, I have already stained my hands with blood. I am tough enough and I am angry because I don't think that my father believes in me; I doubt he ever did." Ino looked down, her fists clenched tight.

Kari waited a minute, letting Ino's anger dissipate a little.

"Ino," Kari started, "I want you to do something for me. Picture someone, anyone, that you love very deeply."

Ino was understandably confused, but did as she was instructed. When Kari saw the small smile on Ino's face, she continued: "Now I want you to imagine willing harming that person. Can you do that?"

Ino, having imagined her mother, flinched at the thought of harming her.

"What the hell are you playing at? I could never hurt someone I love." shouted Ino.

Kari just nodded her head, "Yet you're asking someone else to torture the one they hold most dear."

At first Ino did not understand what Kari was talking about, she was doing no such thing. But, as she thought about it, it started to make sense. Her parents had seen her go through something terrible (something that had made her a shell of herself) and they couldn't bear to see it, so they put an end to it.

"Okay, I get why they suppressed my memories and I might be able to forgive them. But I'm not the same person I was back then, and they have no right to keep _my_ memories from me." said Ino still confident that her father was wrong.

Kari looked towards the house and said,

"The day you have a child, or even a little sibling, you will understand. You see, no matter how much time passes, your baby will always be your baby. Now don't get me wrong, your father should have restored your memories the second you told him about it. But I want you to understand the real reasons behind his actions."

Ino looked away, her anger dissipating. Regardless of his flaws and faults, her father was still her father and she should not have reacted the way she did. Ino's eyes glittered with unshed tears as she thought about some of the things she'd said unthinkingly.

"I should probably apologize huh?" Ino asked, her voice soft.

"Yes, you probably should." said Kari.

For a while they sat there, Kari letting Ino think with a clear mind, as she clearly hadn't before hand. Ino meanwhile was thinking about what she had planned on doing to her father. She wasn't exactly ashamed, what her father had done was serious, but Ino couldn't believe how little trust she had in him.

They sat there until the boys returned.

"BAA-CHAN WE ARE BACK!"

Ino jolted out of her thoughts at the shout. Then she scoffed,

"He really can't help himself, can he?"

Kari giggled,

"Afraid not. Come on he is impulsive enough to rush out here."

And sure enough, they had barely gotten up before Naruto ran up to them,

"What are you guys doing? I am hungry ttebayo" said/whined Naruto.

"Baka Naruto." said Ino.

Naruto's eye twitched,

"What the hell did you just call me?"

"Hmm, I can't remember" said Ino in an 'innocent' tone. Then shrugging she said, "Let's eat, kicking your ass made me hungry."

"Yeah let's… hey what the fuck do you mean kicking my ass?" shouted Naruto, pointing a finger at Ino.

"I could have sworn I beat you or did something else happen?" said Ino, still innocently, but with a smirk playing on her lips.

"You got lucky." ground out Naruto.

"But I did kick your ass, right Kari-san?"

"She did kick your ass Naruto-kun." said Kari, nodding sagely.

Ino threw a smirk at Naruto, flipped her hair and went inside the house. Naruto followed her, fuming and arguing one-sidedly while Kari hung back a little. As she watched the kids go inside, certain plots and thoughts came to mind and Kari smiled thinking/planning for the future.

'_Hmm… those two will either be the cutest couple ever or they will kill each other. Oh well it'll be fun for me either way.' _


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Naruto had to admit that when he first heard about the Chunin exams, he was nervous. But after everything that he had been through these past few months, the danger and challenges that the Exams presented, seemed like child's play to him. Of course he was still excited about showing his skills to the village; it was finally time to show them all that he was not kidding when he said he would surpass all the Hokages before him.

Besides, the blond was sure that when he blows the competition out of water, Kakashi would have no choice but to give him the hat. The thought of Kakashi handing him the Hokage hat in front of the entire village, who would be so stunned their jaws would be unhinged, brought a broad smile to his face.

"Oi! Earth to moron! We are going to be late" said Sasuke snapping Naruto out of his daydream.

'_Stupid teme always ruining my dreams' _thought Naruto.

"I do believe that someone once said: it is better to be late than early" said Sai.

Sasuke did not even attempt to argue with his brother. He was already dealing with one abnormal brother; he did not wish to add Sai's logic to his problems. Speaking of his abnormal brother:

"Dobe if I get there late, I will kill you slowly and painful" ground out Sasuke.

"You wish teme" said Naruto "Besides we are still 20 minutes early, what is your problem?"

"He has a rare logically point Sasuke, with our speed we can get there in seconds if we so choose. You, however, seem quite eager to get there, why is that?" said Sai

"Yeah what Sai said teme, what has got your panties in a bunch?" said Naruto before his brain caught up to something. "Sai why did you say I made a rare logical point?"

"Because it is rare for your points to be logical; usually they are the opposite" replied Sai with a calm tone like he had spoken a gospel truth.

"I will kick your ass later, for now let's focus on asshole no. 1"

Sasuke's eye twitched "who are you calling an asshole, idiot?"

"Don't change the subject Sasuke" said Naruto

The tone Naruto used and the look in his eyes reminded Sasuke and Sai that while Naruto acted like an idiot most of the time, there was a damn good reason he was their team leader. The blond could switch between his idiotic persona and his alpha persona in seconds. It was amazing as it was annoying, seeing as you could not predict his attitudes.

"Sasuke"

That was all it took for Sasuke to spill and his pride did not like it; but Naruto's tone did not leave room for argument. It was times like this that his brother's dream of becoming Hokage did not seem so crazy after all.

"Yesterday, when I went for a walk, I ran into someone who will be in the Exams and the encounter stayed with me."

Naruto's eye narrowed "I know you Sasuke and you are a hard person to impress, so what exactly happened. The whole truth this time please."

"It is long story."

"We got time."

"Tch, fine."

Flashback

_Sasuke was heading back from a café that sold his favourite drink; tomato juice. He was heading to the Uchiha clan compound to check on his parents and see if he could squeeze any information out of them before his exams tomorrow. Itachi was being singularly ineffective in giving him any information and he was nowhere near crazy enough to ask Anko for advice; she would probably do something that will give him nightmares for a month._

_He was not exaggerating, the woman was plain crazy. How his brother and mother came to love her the way they do would forever remain a mystery to him. He could not deny her skills though; she was one of the few people who could give his brother a run for his money. Crazy she is, but weak she is not. This was where his mind asked a question that he had been plagued with since the academy: why are the girls of his generation so weak? _

_While he was thinking about this, his focus on the road became laxed so he did not see where he was going and he almost ran into someone. Almost, because his reflexes kicked in as he stopped and slid around the object with speed and grace that would make most ANBU jealous. _

"_That was pretty cool" said someone._

_When Sasuke turned to look at who he almost bumped into, the first thing he noticed was blond hair and he groaned. The people he knew with blond hair were either dumb or crazy or both. Throw in the fact that the voice was that of a girl, he was definitely not staying here long. _

"_Sorry, I have somewhere to be." said Sasuke _

"_No you don't."_

_Well that was new. Sasuke could count on one hand the number of girls who did not go gaga over him and no one ever sounded so cocky._

'_Hmm let's see: short blond hair, light blue eyes, a short sword strapped across her lower back. I wonder if the sword is just for show or if she can actually use it. Oh she is a Kumo-Nin? Well this should be interesting. Maybe she has some talent, but I doubt it will last once she sees my face for more than minute. Kami Nii-san was right about our Uchiha genes being a bitch and turning every girl we meet into fangirls. Troublesome, she would probably go nuts over my silence in two seconds.'_

"_See ya"_

'_Just like I… wait what?'_

_The girl was walking away from him with no signs of ever turning back. A girl was walking away from him. The shock did not wear off until long after he lost sight of her._

Flashback end

Sai and Naruto shared one look between them to decide if they should be considerate of Sasuke's feelings or not.

"Laugh if you want to, I don't care. I have a swordsman to challenge and you two fools aren't going to stop me."

"Now, now Sasuke, we are your family and we will never treat something that is so important to you with such callousness" said Naruto making Sasuke think that perhaps his brothers were actually matured. Well that was until Naruto turned to Sai and whispered about how they were going to laugh at him when he was not there.

Meanwhile

"Do you understand the plan?"

"Yes Master Danzo"

"Good. Do not fail me again or else hell will not save you from my wrath."

"I will not fail"

"Then go"

'_Those brats are about to learn what happens when you piss off the wrong person…painfully.'_

Back with Naruto

"Aww man, I just realized that we are going back to school; I hate school. Why couldn't they have the first part of the exams in some place better?" cried Naruto

"Like a ramen stand?" deadpanned Sai

"Bite your tongue! These exams are not worthy of being held in a ramen stand!" exclaimed Naruto.

"You know dobe, I have been meaning to tell you this: your obsession of ramen really freaks me out" said Sasuke.

Naruto hissed at both of his brothers and then walked off in a huff muttering something about non-believers and how they will all pay.

Unfortunately, this was not a rare occurrence for them. Bah who cares! Chunin exams here we come.

Five minutes later

"Well this is not what I was expecting" said Sai.

After being subjected to Gai's good luck hug with tears and sunsets, they entered Room 301 where they were supposed to have their Chunin exams. The room could be described in two words: death trap. Sasuke could count 300 people in the room and somehow there were five villages present in the exams. The scary part was that it looked like if a pin dropped the wrong way it will spark world war 4. Konoha and Kiri had the biggest population with 120 each, their team included, while Ame and Suna made up 27 each with Kumo only having one team in the exams.

Konoha and Kiri were sending KI at each other. Suna was not glaring at anyone, but their bodies were already coiled for a brawl. Ame was giving out a bloodthirsty vibe by their chakra alone. Kumo was perhaps the worst; they were just ignoring everyone making them a prime target. Any sensible person who comes into this scene and takes in all this information will just back away and observe from a safe distance doing absolutely nothing…

"OI LISTEN UP! MY NAME IS SOZEN NARUTO AND I'M GOING TO KICK EACH OF YOUR COLLECTIVE ASSES, -TTEBAYO!"

Sai dropped his head in shame, fully regretting that Naruto was his team leader. Sasuke developed a tic mark the size of an eggplant at the sheer stupidity that revolved around Naruto; the idiot had just painted a massive target on their backs and while he was confident in his team's abilities to take everyone here, needlessly provoking a room full of angry shinobi was never a good idea. The worst part was that the fucker was just smiling like he had not just done something daft.

"I think Gai-sensei's teaching has dulled some of his brain cells" said Sai.

"Dobe, can you not be stupid for five minutes?" grounded out Sasuke

Naruto just nervously scratched the back of his head with that damn smile that made it hard for you to stay mad at him. "Sorry Sasuke, guess I was a little excited."

Thankfully, Sasuke was saved from replying by the arrival of their proctor, who teleported into the room.

"Alright maggots shut up"

Naruto was stunned; their proctor was a bear of a man. Dressed in black with scars on his face and eyes as cold as ice, their proctor was definitely intimidating. He did not like this one bit; this guy looked far too dangerous for something as easy as the Chunin exams. Unless Kakashi has decided to make these exams tougher than what Kari told them.

Flashback

_Earlier in the day, Sai had said that they should ask Kari what they were supposed to expect from the exams at the very least. So that morning after breakfast Naruto spoke up,_

"_Baa-chan, can you tell us anything about the Chunin exams?"_

_Kari knew that she really should not give them information on the exams, but she did want them to be as prepared as possible. The truth is, this year Kakashi had increased the standard of the Chunin exams so they could get as many candidates out of the village as possible. He wanted to avoid unnecessary casualties when Kumo made their move. The boys were not even aware of the real war brewing behind the exams and they were Konoha's ticket to show its strength to clients during the exams. _

'That won't happen if my boys get dropped because they weren't prepared. I wouldn't be playing favourites, merely being a **patriot**...yes I can buy that.'

_Kari nodded, "yes there is something that I can tell you about the exams. You should be on your toes. While your current skill level ensures that you will breeze through it, these exams are kill or be killed. No matter what happens, remember that the moment you step into those doors, if you are not sharp, you will lose."_

Flashback end

'_She said that we should be on our toes but this guy…'_

"My name is Ibiki and in this room my word is absolute. If you so much as breathe wrong, I will kick you out the exams myself. Understood?!"

Taki was a Genin from Kiri, a place that created monsters like the Seven Swordsman and he was not going to shame his village's reputation by bowing down to some Leaf scum. No that was not going to happen; it was time to show this pompous tree-hugger that his stupid little stunts will not work on him.

"I am a Kiri-Nin you stupid tree-hugger. Did you think a few silly marks on your face make you scary? Please."

That...was a mistake. When it comes to predicting danger accurately, Sai was the best. That skill comes when you have two reckless brothers who somehow manage to piss off people who could kill them. But this guy had just surpassed his brother's recklessness; I mean who in the world stands in front of a mine field and starts dancing? Judging from the KI surging out of Ibiki, Sai somehow knew that this baka was as good as dead. Though he wondered what kind of repercussions Ibiki will face after killing a Genin from a nation that was known as 'Bloody Mist'.

Unfortunately for Taki, Ibiki had a way around that, and that was made known when in the blink of an eye Ibiki's hand was wrapped around Taki's neck and the genin's feet were off the ground.

Taki would never say it out loud, but between the grip on his neck, the KI oozing out the proctor and the look in his eyes, he was scared shitless. Taki was sure the proctor couldn't kill him, not without causing an international incident, and that thought made him ignore the fear and smirk. That smirk, and the assurance of safety, was ruthlessly crushed when he heard what Ibiki said next:

"Your village signed a waiver that releases Konoha from any responsibility for your death. So if I forget my strength-" the grip tightened, causing Taki to nearly pass out "-no one can blame me for it." Ibiki waited a moment, the air of death surrounding his words seeping into Taki and the nearby genin.

Then as fast as he left, he returned to his spot at the front, like nothing happened, leaving a terrified Genin gasping for air on the ground.

The boys were torn between fear and awe, but Sasuke suddenly realized something. No village would sign a death waiver before the Chunin exams in a peace as frail as this. Doing something like that was beyond stupid, it was basically asking for a blood bath and no village would send these number of Genin if something like that had been signed.

"He was bluffing" whispered Sasuke. "If something like that had been signed, this many genin wouldn't have been sent; it'd be a death sentence."

When he processed it, Naruto's eyes narrowed "but the ability to fool a room full of people, with an on the spot plan, is inconceivable for a Jounin that we don't know about. Unless…."

Sai's eyes widened as he caught on "Wait don't tell me"

"He is an interrogator and judging from the amount of KI that he released earlier, he is a top interrogator" said Naruto.

"Kakashi must be going senile if he sent someone like that into the Chunin exams" said Sasuke.

"Or there is more to these exams than we originally thought?" said Naruto

"Alright maggots, get to your assigned seats now!" said Ibiki.

Then he gave a smile, one worthy of the Shinigami, "Good now have fun."

Before anybody could react, the ground split open and every participant dropped into a pitch black hole. Quick as lighting, the Sozen team drove their blades into the walls, followed closely by the Kumo team. Everyone else used Kunais and wires to halt their descent, but those who did not, continued falling until they hit the ground; hard. Those above then saw a series of flash bombs and poison gas flare up, knocking out those below. Half of the initial population did not make it. That definitely sent a massive message to the half that remained; never let your guard down.

The next question was how to get back up. One, the last Ame team, tried to do it by applying chakra to their feet. A seal flared up and sucked out every last drop of their chakra, rendering them unconscious and causing them to drop to the ground as well. Another team tried to teleport, but it ended with the same result. So now only 48 teams remained from the original 100.

"Crap, I did not see this coming. Kakashi-ero went all out on this one" said Naruto.

"How you get away with calling our Hokage that is a story for another day. Right now we need to figure out how to get out of here" said Sai.

"Dobe, any ideas?" asked Sasuke

Naruto looked around for a second: "so no chakra, which means that we have to use our physical strength to get up the wall, but it is too smooth for us to use our hands and using weapons will take too long."

Raising an eyebrow Sai asked "why is time of the essence?"

Sasuke pointed up "because of that."

Looking up, Sai saw that the floor they just descended from, closing. It was not fast enough to cause a panic, but still they had to get up there before the floor closed up completely.

"So it looks like we only have one option left and you guys are not going to like it" said Naruto.

Sasuke twitched "just tell us the plan; we don't have time to complain".

"Okay, we tie wires around each other and connect them and then we hurl one person up as hard as we can. Then that person stabs their blade into the wall and pulls the others up. We do this until we get to the top. It will exhaust us, due to the fact that we have our new weights on and we can't use our chakra, but it is the best way to go and because of our training with Gai it should only take a few minutes. Any questions?"

Sasuke sighed, but started pulling out some wires and tying it to himself while Sai did the same. It caused Naruto to smile at how much his brothers trusted him. Everybody else was using their blades to climb up; the Kumo team and a few Kiri teams would release their blades, jump up, stab the blade back quickly and then repeat.

Within ten minutes, everyone climbed up the hole to the floor just as it was about to close up completely. Ibiki was standing there with a smirk on his face that, frankly speaking, pissed some of them off.

"Well I guess you pass"

"Was there a point to this?" growled a Suna Genin

"Of course there was: always be prepared for anything. Chunin are expected to be quick thinkers and able to operate under pressure. Oh and if any of you did not bring back a member of your team, you would have been disqualified. Chunin are expected to be responsible for their team's safety and protection, but since you all saved your teams…Congratulations on passing the first stage." Then just like that, he shushined away.

"Well that was just perfect" said Sasuke.

"Your sarcasm is not going to explain the next stage, so we have to figure that one on our own" said Naruto.

"Perhaps we should find Gai-sensei; we are practicing to be Chunin so…" Sai stopped allowing his brothers to catch on.

"We have to report to our superior" said both.

"Exactly"

"Good thinking bro" said Naruto "now let's find Gai-sensei"

Meanwhile, a certain team was looking at them as they left.

"The brat is good for a loudmouth."

"Yes, but what if Konoha is breeding an army of brats and this is just a test run and then one day they will enslave everyone including Kumo?"

BAM!

"Shut up"

"Ow"

"Sometimes you guys are so uncool" _'so he is in the exams. I wonder if he can use that blade of his.'_

Sasuke sneezed

"Someone must be thinking about you" said Sai

"Tch better not be a fangirl."

Twenty minutes later, they found their sensei at a barbeque restaurant; apparently having an eating contest against Kakashi. How the Hokage still had time to spend with Gai doing these silly challenges really baffled and inspired the boys. Kakashi was at the top, but he did not forget his friends; even the crazy ones. It was cool of him.

"Oi Gai-sensei" shouted Naruto.

When Gai turned to greet his students, Kakashi ate the two last pieces of meat on the plate, thus winning the contest.

"Gah Kakashi you cheated."

Kakashi of course knew that but there was no way he was about to admit that to Gai. Knowing the Blue Beast he would never let him be until he cleansed him of the Unyouthful move that is cheating. Seriously how could he even think that nobility had a place in the life of a ninja, they were trained to achieve success at any cost. Man but he needed to throw Gai off his trail if for nothing else but his own sanity. This is where his experience as Hokage comes in handy; time to generate bullshit.

"A ninja must always be alert."

Gai, who was about to re-educate his rival, suddenly stopped and then realized that his rival was right

"Yosh! Kakashi that is correct and as punishment for my lack of attention I shall run five- oomph."

Sasuke had driven his arm into Gai's stomach causing the Jounin to nearly bowl over. Normally he would not have done that, but they had already deduced that they were on a clock and this was definitely not the time for Gai's brand of crazy

"You can do your ridiculous runs after; we just passed the first test so we need information on the second."

"Why would I have that?" asked Gai who wanted to know if his youthful students had figured it out or if they were just grasping for straws. But as usual his students exceeded his expectations.

"Because the proctor left without telling us anything and protocol demands that we go to our superior for instructions" said Sai

The response pleased Gai greatly as he began crying anime tears "YOSH MY STUDENTS ARE SO-oomph cruel."

"Instructions now, craziness later" demanded Sasuke whose Sharingan was activated to show his seriousness.

'_Geez, teme can be really scary sometimes'_ thought Naruto.

"Yosh my youthful students, the second test is: spin the wheel." Said Gai who discretely shared a smirk with Kakashi; it was time to truly test the boys' mental skills. They knew that were prodigies, but Gai was eager to see if his students' fountain of youth could rise above the challenge. Kakashi was just planning to enjoy the show.

The boys blinked a couple times, Naruto actually cleaned his ears "say that again."

"That is the key to the location of the second test my youthful students. You must spin the wheel and you have 24 hours to spin and win otherwise you fail."

"What the fuck is that even supposed to mean?" shouted Naruto "What in the world is spin the wheel?"

The outburst pleased Kakashi very much. It was wrong, but he just derived immense pleasure from messing with the boys heads. Though he knew that they were smart, he would love to see if they could figure out the test and pass it. Time for the show.

"It is a game. The wheel consists of different prizes or options with an arrowhead on top so when you spin the wheel, whatever part of the wheel touches the arrowhead is your choice." said Sai

"So it is a game of chance. We have to first list out the possible things that we can do during the test and then pick the correct one" deduced Sasuke.

Kakashi and Gai smiled with pride at how smart these boys were. Smart, loyal, and powerful, it was so nice to look at the next generation and see them thriving. Even Kurenai's team had their own special dynamic and it really worked for them.

"So information gathering is the key, that is easy. Kakashi-ero where is the second test being held?" asked Naruto

Everybody first stopped, and then reset their brains. After that was done they noticed that Naruto was actually waiting for a reply. When Kakashi saw that Naruto was serious, he started to chuckle and then that turned into full-blown laughter. Naruto started to get annoyed. What in the world was so funny that he was laughing like this?

"You are definitely Konoha's most Unpredictable Shinobi" said Kakashi "but I suppose you got me."

"Wait a minute what do you mean 'he got you'? Don't tell me you actually are going to tell us" said Sai.

"Naruto, how about you explain why you asked me" said Kakashi; he wanted to see if Naruto actually put any thought into the action.

"Well that is easy; you are here with Gai-sensei at an eating contest in a public spot, while the Chunin exams are in full swing. The only reason that would be, is because you wanted people to see you here. Then when we started talking about the test, you stayed I couldn't tell much from your facial expressions, but my gut told me that you stayed because you were waiting for something and it was not the check. So when Sasuke said a game of chance, I figured I could follow my gut and ask you and if you refused I could always threaten you."

"Oh? How exactly would you do that?" asked an amused Kakashi

Naruto smiled, _that_ smile, "I can tell Kari-baa-chan what you hide in the second drawer in your office."

Kakashi's eye widened in shock. His secret stash was known to no one, so how did he find out about it? Suddenly the Sandaime's warning about how dangerous these boys were sunk in. If word of his secret stash got to Kari, then he was a dead man for sure.

"Well played young grasshopper. Very well, the second test will take place at training 44 tomorrow at noon sharp, so don't be late."

"Thanks Kakashi-ero"

After they left, Sasuke asked Naruto what was in the second drawer.

"How should I know? I was bluffing."

Sasuke and Sai tried _very _hard, but they still face faulted.

"Well there was that one time I saw his eye flash to the drawer when we were in his office, but I did not know for sure."

"I guess Baa-chan was right, you do have amazing luck" said Sai.

Sasuke decided that it had been a long day and if the trend of this year's exams were anything to go by, then tomorrow would be equally long. So he just took the win and followed his brothers home; they need to prepare for tomorrow.

'_I wonder if she will be there'_

Meanwhile

Ino was not looking forward to this particular conversation. She knew in her heart that if she did not at least try to give her father a chance to fix his mistake before she went to Shikaku-sama and Choza-sama, then she would feel guilty. This way, even if Inoichi refused, she would know that she did her best to try to save him. But if she was honest with herself a part of her wanted to report him just to see him pay for what he did to her. Why should she follow the high road when her own blood violated her trust like it was nothing and then lie to her face? Her father made a fool of her and the more she dwelled on it the more she wanted to see him suffer.

But after talking to Kari she knew that she had to give her father this lifeline, even if he did not give her the same level of consideration. So with that thought, she met him in the greenhouse where he was attending to some lilies.

"Dad, we need to talk" started Ino.

Inoichi sighed "You are considering going to Shikaku and Choza aren't you?"

Ino was startled by what Inoichi said, but: "Yes, I need to unlock these memories. I know you're trying to protect me, but I'm no longer a child and I know I can handle the burden. I also can't live nor can _be_ the kunoichi I want by running from my problems or with these headaches constantly limiting me. So please Dad, don't make me do something that we will both regret; trust in me."

Inoichi kept pretending to still be looking after the flowers. A large part of Inoichi hated Ino's teachers for forcing his little girl to grow up. She used to hang on every word he said, but now she looked at him with such contempt all because he had tried to protect her. He knew that he should not be angry with his own daughter, but why couldn't she just leave it be? Did she not know that her stubbornness was hurting her mother, his wife? What kind of girl brought pain to her mother without any remorse or consideration? No, this was not his little girl, this is the work of those women who took his little girl and made her into this.

His wife had already told him to give Ino back her memories, but he wished he could not. This girl was hurting his family over what? But his beloved was in enough pain as it is he did not want to cause her anymore pain.

"Very well" said Inoichi stunning his child. "I can see that you are determined to get your memories back regardless of who gets hurt in the process, so I will give them back to you. But let me say this, when this decision comes back to bite you, know that I tried to help you and you refused."

Ino waited as he went through the hand signs and then she felt a veil lift in her mind. That was when the memories started to return: her obsession with finding out why people hated Naruto, how she abandoned everything and everyone in her quest to find the truth, the dead look in her eyes and the massive headache that she had the night she lost her memories. All of it returned, and she remembered each moment as if it happened yesterday. Soon the memories subsided and Ino was able to steady her breathing again, not having realized she had lost her breath.

"There, those are your memories. Tell me daughter was it worth it?" asked Inoichi.

"Was it worth you giving your own blood migraines and smilingly lying to her face when she complained about them to you?" shot Ino

Inoichi looked in his daughter's eyes and saw no hesitation, no cloudiness, nothing that reminded him of the look his princess held those years ago.

Silence descended between them; they both knew that their relationship was ruined. Far too much had been said and done for it to be any other way. But even underneath all the anger, pain, and sadness they knew that they loved each other. Only someone you love dearly can cause you so much pain and hurt and perhaps that is why love is a double-edge sword.

"How did you know that I was considering going to Shikaku-san and Choza-san?" asked Ino

"You're my daughter" said Inoichi and without meaning to Ino's hard eyes softened a little.

"I have somewhere to be, I'll see you later." Said Ino. But before she exited the greenhouse, she stopped and turned her head to look at the man that had raised her. She hesitated, but then said,

"Bye Dad."

Inoichi, who had been looking at the ground in thought, suddenly looked up. Despite his shock, he spoke, and before she went out of earshot, Ino heard his reply and a small smile unwillingly found its way to her face.

"Bye Princess"

Next Day

"Huh so this is the infamous forest of death" said Naruto "I wonder why they call it that"

"According to my research, it contains species of animals and trees that are bigger and more vicious than their normal counterparts" said Sai

"It's just another hurdle we have to pass nothing more" said an unimpressed Sasuke

"Sometimes Sasuke I wonder if you are the abnormal one: how can you stand in front of a forest as old as this and not be impressed?" said Naruto.

"Tch trees are trees dobe you've seen one you've seen them all, why should I be impressed?" asked Sasuke "Besides we have more important things to talk about like what the second test will be"

"It also appears that not many people figured out the puzzle. I can only count 24 teams; 6 Konoha teams, 6 Kiri teams, 5 Suna teams and the one Kumo team which means that we lost half of our numbers to a game of spin the wheel"

Naruto sighed "Sure let's play a guessing game about our next test while ignoring the potentials of the area in front of us"

Raising an eyebrow Sasuke asked "what potentials are you talking about dobe?"

"The size and topography of the area opens up so many possibilities for training; trap making, tracking, survival, recon, and even a mini war"

Sai put his hand on his chin thoughtfully "Hmm well that is true"

"Hello minions are you ready for your death-er-I mean the second test?" shouted the proctor.

The boys immediately stiffened when they heard that voice. When they turned to see who spoke, hoping and praying that they were wrong, fate laughed at them.

"Anko is our proctor" said a very scared Naruto. "We are all dead" he whispered.

From her position in front of everyone Anko could see the terrified looks on the boys' faces and she smiled causing them to back away. The fear that they were radiating quickly spread to everyone else and before long everyone was wary of the purple-haired proctor with the crazy smile.

'_Ah I love this job I get to scare the poop out of people without any repercussion and I even get paid for it. Life is good and Kurenai said I am too violent bah hmm now should go hard from the start or let them lower their guard and then terrify them? Decisions, decisions oh I know I will let them lower their guard a little then freak them out then go back to being nice and then enjoy the looks on their faces when the test starts. Kukukuku this is going to be so much fun, for me anyway Kukukuku"_

Unfortunately when Anko came out of her thoughts, she saw that everyone had taken three steps away from her. Apparently while she was thinking she had a devilish smile on her face that was scaring everyone. Well, that won't do.

"Oh my, I am so sorry. Sometimes I tend to go overboard when I am thinking of my favourite food. I haven't eaten this today, so I am a little hungry" said Anko in a calm tone. "Anyway, it is nice to meet all of you, my name is Mitirashi Anko and I am going to be your proctor for the second test. Congratulations on making it this far!"

"Who does she think she is deceiving?" asked Naruto "Nobody is stupid enough to fall for her nice girl act."

Sasuke just shook his head, "look around dobe everyone believes her and why shouldn't they?"

"You have got to be kidding me!" he hissed.

"Now, why don't I explain the second test that you will be taking in a forest that earned its nickname?" Anko smirked viciously for a second, then went back to her nice girl smile; making the Genin think that they imagined it.

"The test is relatively simple: there is a tower in the centre of the forest and each of these gates presents a straight path to that tower. The goal is to gain access to the tower and a key will be given to you to unlock the door. That is all simple no?"

The boys immediately became suspicious, there was no way that that was all. This is Anko that we are talking about here. There is something that they are missing and knowing Anko, that missing information will bring great pain to them and great joy to her. They already knew that asking her was out of the question; if Anko did not want to share she would not. So it was up to them to find out, hopefully before they were killed.

"Are there any rules?" asked Taki. After Ibiki he was not willing to piss off another proctor by underestimating them.

"I am so glad you asked, yes there are two rules. The duration of time you can spend in the forest is 2 days; if you are not in the tower by then you fail. Second, you must use a key to open the door at the tower, no picking the locks or destroying them. Now I need you all to head to the tent and pick up your team's key. After that you will be assigned to a gate. Good luck to all the teams!"

"I don't like this -ttebayo"

"Line forms behind me, the test is too simple and yet it has so much potential for disaster. Come to think of it, that is the kind of test that Anko will set." Said Sasuke

"She said that we need to use 'a' key to open the tower door so that means we don't have to use the key given to us" said Sai

"If we are not ordered to use the key given to us, then that means that it is possible we lose the one given to us and we can replace it with another one. But that means that we are going to get jumped in the forest and our key may be taken" said Naruto.

"She also said they were assigning team keys, meaning that even if we lose our key we can't take another team's key." Said Sasuke

"So the important questions are: who will be attacking us? And when we lose our key, where can we get a replacement?" said Sai

"Oi! Are you brats done with your conference?" said Anko

"So who is going to go over there and collect the key?" asked Sasuke

"Not it" said both Naruto and Sai

Sasuke's eye twitched. "Cowards!"

"Good luck ass" said Naruto while Sai gave him a salute.

"So how was the analysis?" asked Anko when Sasuke came to her.

"Fine, so where is this key?"

"Mou" pouted Anko "I go through the trouble of asking and you leave me hanging; that is not very gentlemanly of you Sasu-chan."

By now Sasuke was used to Anko's teasing and he knew that if he reacted she would never stop. "If I went through the trouble of asking, would you reveal your hand?"

"Now now Sasu-chan, you did not tell me yours so I guess we will never know if I would have told you mine."

Sasuke simply rolled his eyes and entered the tent.

Hokage's Office

Kakashi was finishing up on another batch of paperwork when his secretary came in.

"Rei I am not done with these yet so please hold the remaining for now."

"Well if you spent less time reading those books of yours, you would be done by now Hokage-sama" said Rei.

"Why do you scold me like a child and then ignore me when I say that you can call me Kakashi?"

"Simple, you act like a child but you are still the Hokage."

Kakashi sighed. He remembered when the Sandaime told him to get a secretary after he was nearly buried in paperwork in two months. Every person he interviewed was either too formal or too boring or just plain wrong, but Rei was different. He could still remember the day she came in for her interview, she was the last on the list before he gave up on having a secretary.

_It was that look...one she gave me when 'suggesting' I take the day off…._

"So what can I do for you Rei?"

"Your appointment with your advisors is in two hours and this letter came in for you. I already had it checked."

"Thank you Rei." Taking the letter and opening it, Kakashi's eye narrowed.

"Would you like me to move up your advisors' meeting to now Hokage-sama?"

"No, that will create the impression that something is wrong."

"Very well then, would you like to read your novels?"

Kakashi looked at her stunned to which she just shrugged and said

"The letter clearly carries weight and you will need all the mental energy you can get when your advisors get here in two hours and reading it calms you."

At that point Kakashi knew that he had the best secretary. Looking back at the letter, he knew she was right about it carrying weight.

_Yo five-o_

_Danzo is controlling my bro yo_

_Keep you informed peep_

_Bee out oh yeah_

'_Who the hell is Bee?'_

Back with Naruto

The boys were standing in front of their assigned gate, waiting for the test to begin. Naturally they had plans to deal with what they thought they would face in the forest, but now they will have to play it by ear and see what plan would follow or if they would have to draw up another one. Finally Anko's voice came in through the speakers.

"Alright everyone, just one last thing! Don't die in a lame fashion, we're aiming for high entertainment value here. Begin!"

"Tch, crazy woman" said Sasuke before they shot into the forest.

By their estimate, the tower was six hours away from any gate, so they decided to take it slow as they had two days to burn. Also, if they were going to get attacked it would be easier to defend themselves if they were going at a steady pace. It turned out to be the correct decision when a hail of kunai came at them from every direction.

Sai quickly slammed his hands on the ground and intoned:

"Earth Style: Dome Wall"

"Well that was fast. Nice job Sai."

"Thanks Naruto. Something tells me Anko is feeling pretty good about herself."

"Yeah well unfortunately we have other problems, Naruto can you sense how many are there?" said Sasuke

A couple weeks ago, Naruto had unlocked his sensory abilities; a prominent part of the Uzumaki Clan bloodline. The problem was, there was no scroll to know how to develop it, so they had to play it by ear. One thing they knew, the calmer Naruto's chakra is, the farther he can sense. In this case of course, the people attacking them were closer, so he should not have any difficulty pinpointing them. Case in point,

"Three people, judging from their chakra signatures, I would say high chunin but there is one further ahead; he has Jounin level reserves. He would be a problem"

"Why would he be a problem?" asked Sasuke "we are more than capable of taking on one Jounin" he wasn't boasting they actually were.

"I know that but the guy is carrying around a summoning scroll, not an animal summoning, think of it like a teleportation port for anybody to use"

"So the Jounin is carrying a portable backup" said Sasuke

"And we have no idea who or what he will summon. Yeah that guy would be a problem. Unless we can somehow take him out before he calls his backup" said Sai

Sasuke sighed "Kakashi must be going senile. This is a Chunin exam not a Jounin exam. Why in the world did he make it so hard?"

"Let's finish this test. Then we can pummel-that is-ask him. So first we need to handle the three guys outside. Sai ground them. 3o'clock, 12 o'clock and 4o'clock"

Going through hand signs, Sai slammed his hands into the ground and intoned. "Earth Style: Quicksand"

When that was done, Sai released the dome, allowing the boys to see who they had caught and to their surprise two of them were the Gate guards.

"Izumo and Kotesu. What are you guys doing here?" asked Naruto

"Of course! We just had to get the Sozen boys, just our bad luck" said Izumo "Hey Naruto! Looks like you guys got us good. You pass us, so you are free to advance."

Naruto was about to tell Sai to release them, when he remembered that he owed those two payback for the time they made fun of them when they left for their C-rank mission. The thought brought a sadistic smile to his face.

"I do believe I have something I need to settle with you two first" said Naruto "Don't worry this won't hurt, too much."

Outside the forest Anko suddenly felt very proud of Naruto and in her parlour sipping tea, so did Kari.

"I think that Anko has corrupted you Naruto, that went a little too far" said Sai

"So long as they are alive, there is no such thing as too far" said Naruto causing Sai to sweatdrop.

'_That's Anko favourite excuse when she takes things too far. Well at least he did not leave any permanent damage'_

Hours later when they found the squad sent to Gate 20, Naruto's gate, they would be tied to a tree, covered in honey and jam, brutally abused by bees and ants with a sign above them:

'Reserved for the ant and bee communities'

When the boys finally reached the Jounin's position an hour and a half later, they spread out like they planned while suppressing their chakra. The plan was simple: take him out before he has a chance to summon his backup. Naruto was the best out of them when it comes to stealth, so he would sneak up behind him and then trap him in a chakra draining barrier. Then Sasuke, who would be in front of him, would trap him in a genjutsu to see if he had any vital information for them and if he did not, then Sai would drop from his position in the tree tops above their target and knock him out.

When everyone was in position, Naruto placed a pre-drawn seal on the ground directly behind the target and activated it. The target tried to reach for his scroll but Sasuke was already in front of him and with a glance ensnared him in a genjutsu. After he was done he gave Sai the signal and just like that it was over in minutes.

"So did you find out anything?" asked Naruto

"Yeah apparently the scroll had an ANBU sealed inside, the ANBU's duty would have been to kidnap one of us and take that person to a secured location. The Jounin would then give us two options; a pass that allows us to pass the second test or the location of our missing teammate."

"So the team would have to choose between taking an easy win without their teammate or go up against an ANBU member." Said Sai

"Protocol is to prioritize the mission over anybody. So if the team wanted to follow protocol then they would take the easy win, but the kicker is that when they get the pass, they would notice that it needs three people to be recognised, so they would have automatically failed if they chose to follow protocol" said Sasuke

"That Kakashi, what the hell kind of test is this -ttebayo?" said Naruto

"Well like you said when we see him we will ask him. Naruto do you sense anybody ahead of us?" asked Sasuke

"No, the path is clear. I say we hightail to the tower, with our current speed we should get there within the hour. Then at least we can rest and prepare for what Kakashi has planned next."

"Sounds good to me" said Sai. Sasuke nodded and they were off

Hokage's Office

Kakashi was giggling in his office when Rei walked in and sighed at her boss's childishness. She knew the stories of the great Copy Ninja, the child prodigy, the youngest Hokage in history. But after being his secretary, she knew that those stories only revealed a part of him. No one knew of Kakashi the Pervert or the only guy she knew who could rival the Nara in laziness. Don't get her wrong, she did not want to change jobs, it is just her family and friends kept talking about how lucky she was to be the secretary to someone as amazing as Hatake Kakashi; if only they knew.

Watching him being so engrossed in his novel, Rei couldn't help but shake her head. Some days she felt less like a secretary and more like a babysitter to a man-child. But her knowledge of his past prevented her from being too annoyed. If there is one thing she knew about geniuses, they have low EQ making it difficult for them to relate to the world around them in a normal way. Between the funerals he had attended and his unusually long stint in the ANBU, Rei understood Kakashi was allowed to be a little odd. She found that she did not mind babysitting him, in fact a part of her was impressed by his will to still be able to act like a child, despite everything he had been through.

Most people would have gone down the dark path or lost their minds, yet here he was giggling in his office. It was inspiring, so at the end of the day Rei could say that despite his quirks, she was proud of her boss. But enough of that, it was almost time for the meeting and she did not want Tsume to see Kakashi reading that book; the woman had sent people to the hospital for less.

"Hokage-sama, it is almost time for your meeting."

Kakashi sighed in disappointment, he was just getting to the good part "can we postpone it a little?"

If she was made of lesser stuff, she would have rolled her eyes at the childish plea but she was not, so she simple said "I am afraid not Hokage-sama, would you like me to get anything for you?"

"A replacement Hokage" said Kakashi with a sigh before he put his game face on "Thank you Rei that will be all."

Rei smiled, the authority shining in his eye is what made her positive that Kakashi was an excellent Hokage and worthy of the accolades he got worldwide. Bowing she took her leave, a proud secretary of the Godaime Hokage.

Unknown to her, Kakashi was enjoying the view, Rei was stunning woman after all. With an hourglass figure, luscious lips and long legs and a heart-shaped face the woman would make any man happy to have her as his own. But Kakashi knew that he could not go there, not because she was his secretary, but because everyone who got close to him, died. She would be better off not getting involved with someone as dark as him. He may pretend to be a child but only a few people knew the demons that he had to fight off on a regular basis. Yes she was better off finding someone who did not awaken in a sweat every night screaming bloody murder.

Kakashi sighed, _'oh well I always have Icha, Icha Kukukuku' _

A few minutes later the Sandaime and Fugaku walked in to see their Hokage giggling perversely.

"Did we miss something Kakashi-kun?" asked Hiruzen

"Hmm? oh ahem welcome you two" said Kakashi who was trying to retain his cool, and failing.

Luckily his advisors were not interested in calling him on it, seeing as how they already knew a few things that could make Kakashi giggle like that. Thank Kami Tsume is not here yet.

Knock. Knock.

"Come in"

"Hokage-sama, everyone."

"Inuzuka-sama"

"Okay, since we are all here, there is something very important that we need to talk about. I received a note two hours earlier containing information that we need to look into."

"What is it?" asked Fugaku

Kakashi brought out the note and read it out for all of them, causing their eyes to widen. Tsume asked the same question Kakashi had asked himself earlier

"Who the hell is Bee?"

"He is the Raikage's younger brother and the Jinchuuriki of the Eight-tails; Intel says that he can fully control his Bijuu. The real question is, why did he contact you? As the brother to the Raikage, his primary loyalty would be to Kumo and yet he contacted you. It doesn't make much sense" said Hiruzen.

"Perhaps he wants support, if what he wrote in the note is anything to go by, then Danzo is controlling the head of the second most powerful village for his own agenda" said Fugaku. "Which means that it is not really the Raikage's will to invade Konoha."

Kakashi interlocked his fingers and rested in chin on his thumbs.

"My concern is, regardless of how this turns out, if the invasion holds then neither Kumo nor Konoha would be able to come out unscathed and that leaves two villages vulnerable to attacks from anyone. Not to mention if our enemies get wind of Kumo's plan, then what stops them from sending teams to take us out to."

"So you are saying the best way to handle this is to somehow stop the invasion before it begins" said Tsume.

"Yes, that way any interloper looking to take advantage of the crisis won't be able to."

Fugaku saw nothing wrong with the plan but, "what makes you so sure that there will be interlopers?"

Closing his eyes Kakashi said "Honestly...it's just a _hunch_."

**Author's note: Thanks again to blaserjohn for editing this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Don't forget to review. It makes us very happy and we update faster that way when we are happy.**

**Dante out.**


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